'Wázi' is a colloquial, affectionate term for 'kid' or 'child', especially common in Sichuan and neighboring southwestern dialects. Though written with the characters 娃 (wá, meaning 'baby' or 'young child') and 子 (zi, a common noun suffix), the compound functions as a single lexical unit — not a literal 'child-child'. It carries warm, rustic, or down-to-earth connotations, often used by elders speaking to or about young children, or in regional storytelling and folk contexts.

The term is rarely used in formal writing or national broadcast media, but appears frequently in regional TV dramas, local literature, and everyday speech among families in Sichuan, Chongqing, and parts of Shaanxi and Hubei. Unlike standard Mandarin terms like 孩子 (háizi) or 小孩 (xiǎohái), 娃子 implies familiarity and regional identity — it’s more intimate and earthy, sometimes gently teasing or nostalgic. It can refer to toddlers through early teens, depending on context and speaker attitude.