I've just been called 'Bonnie'

[user1493797837]

I've tried google. It says it means cute and gave the example of a bonnie baby.

AIBU to think this isn't a term that should be used for a woman nearing 30?!

I sometimes compliment other people's dogs as being 'bonny' - to me its's not just pretty, but also cheerful.

Its a nice word.

Bonnie is a nice thing! (Central/East Scotland) Lovely is the closest I can think of but with more kindness/happiness

I always used to think it meant fat, but then much later on in my life I found out it meant pretty.

It definitely means lovely. Although in Scotland we also use the saying 'a right bonnie dearie' referring to someone who is a bit of a state, e.g. mutton dressed as lamb!

It means natural beauty/ pretty girl.

Maybe I'm being too old school, and this is not a dig at the op at all but I find it a bit sad that people are often afraid to give genuine compliments nowadays...

It used to be so much nicer when people just said these things.

When I lived in the provs, there was also lots of calling people 'luv' and 'darling'. Never get that in London!

I think its odd if they just told you that (am Scottish btw). But if you have been, say, serving them or helping them or working with them for a bit then it was a compliment. It isnt age restricted really to you are being unreasonable.

Where I'm from ''ers a bonny wench = we can see where all the pies went!

Scottish parents...Bonny is lovely.

It means beautiful/lovely. It's a good compliment.

In the north east its very common - she's a bonnie lass.

There's a old Geordie song that clarifies that being big and being bonny are two different things, bonny is a compliment here:

"She's a big lass an' a bonny one,
An' she likes her beer;
An, they call her Cushy Butterfield,
An' aw wish she was here"

Lancashire lass here. Bonny means very pretty round these parts. If someone called me bonny, I'd be well chuffed (am 46 and ugly so it's very unlikely to happen)

'Ah you are really lovely. Very bonnie.'

Its a compliment it means lovely, beautiful in Scotland. The way they said it how could it sound like anything else?

'I've never ever been described that way. It went. 'Ah you are really lovely. Very bonnie'

Clearly a compliment. Really not something to be suspicious or disapproving of!

"It means fat where I live."

That's a load of old nonsense. You must live in an area of people who look for offense in a compliment. I live in Yorkshire and bonny means pretty, not fat. People call a spade a spade in Yorkshire so a fat person would be called fat/lardy/hefty/obese/other synonym meaning fat. Bonny is pretty and is a compliment.

It means pretty. Not fat.

Lucky you, OP

I'm from Yorkshire and calling a girl bonny means she's plump. It applies in that sense to babies too, a plump baby being seen as thriving. It's not nasty, but it definitely means plump. It may be a bit old-fashioned now.

In the north-east of England and Scotland, where I've also lived it's tended to be a general description of a good man or woman as in 'bonny lad' or a pretty woman or child.

Bonnie means pretty or lovely to me.

I really dont know why you've struggled to understand the meaning if this, given the context.

It was clearly a compliment, whether you know the oxford dictionary definition of the word or not.

I'm from the north east (England) and I've always known bonnie to mean pretty.

Eeeh, she's a reet bonnie lass!

Accept the comment with the sentiment it was intended to convey - even if it's not something you find "appropriate" because of your age or whatever - the other person was trying to be nice.

They wanted to say something nice and you're on the internet analysing the semantics? It would be one thing if it was an ambiguous term but it's not, YABU

It is always a compliment.
Get over yourself ffs

Bygas I'm from Yorkshire. Bonnie has never meant anything other than pretty.

Love the use of the word "bonny" in the song "Jean", the theme from "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" here sung by Rod McKuen:

I'm showing my age here, but I love this.