Obsessive with names and words (I) (homophone)

Sometimes I feel we Chinese are kind of obsessive with names and words. For example, do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving just because it sounds like something auspicious? Do you get some train ticket not because you need to go somewhere, but because the names of the places look lucky?

With the Chinese New Year approaching, I cannot help but think of the cuisines we’re sure to have on the New Year’s Eve. (除夕) (chu2 xi4) Every family has their own special recipes but there’re some dishes you’re sure to see on every Chinese family’s table. Firstly, you’ll see a dish of fish 魚(yu2), which sounds the same as 餘, meaning surplus. We won’t finish it because it’s a symbol of the wish that we’ll have surplus for the coming year. 年年有餘 (nian2 nian2 yiu3 yu2)

Another ingredient we like to use in the cuisine is 髮菜(fa3 cai4) , hair moss or hair weed that is used as a vegetable in Chinese cuisine, for its pronunciation is similar to that of 發財 (fa cai2), to get rich. And for the rice cake used in the worship to the ancestors, 年糕(nian2 gao) , it’s a symbol of ranking higher each year. 年年高昇(or 升) (nian2 nian2 gao sheng) And the fermented rice cake 發糕 (fa gao) is especially liked because fermented 發酵(fa xiao4) has the word we love--發(fa), to prosper.

And for the vegetable leek 韭菜(jiu3 cei4), it’s the sound , the same as 久 “long;” for the fruit tangerine, 橘(ju2), it’s the similar sound with that of 吉(ji2), lucky, auspicious.

For Taiwanese, chicken is a symbol of starting a happy family because in Taiwanese chicken is pronounced like the word 家(jia) , which means family in the term of成家(cheng2 jai)  In Taiwanese, the radish 蘿蔔(luo2 bo) is pronounced like 采頭(cai3 tou2), which means lucky signs; whereas the pineapple 鳳梨(fen4 li2) is like 旺來 (wang4 lai2), the impending prosper. That’s why you always see them in the opening of a store or in the worship to the gods. 拜拜(bai4 bai4)

Speaking of拜拜, there’s a cracker with the name 旺旺仙貝(wang4 wang4 xian bei4) in Taiwan. They have a slogan in their commercial that goes as 拜拜選旺旺, ㄧ定旺(bai4 bai4 xian2 wang4 wang4, yi2 ding4 wang4), if you use the cracker in the worship to the gods, you’re sure to get prosperous. And when playing ma-jung 麻將, we always kid about not to drink the sports drink 舒跑(shu pao3) because it sounds like to run away after you lose. 輸(shu) means to lose.

I got a tip for those who want to sell anything to the Chinese people—just give it a name with the pronunciation of 發，旺，or 吉. It won’t go wrong.  But you’re wrong if you think our obsessions with words or names only go as far as what we eat, you’re very wrong. Tomorrow I’ll talk more about this.

By the way, call me if you happen to know anything with the name of “youth” or “beauty.” I sure can use one.

餘=余 (Simplified)

年年有餘=年年有余

髮菜=发菜

發財=发财

發糕=发糕

發酵=发酵

蘿蔔=萝卜

采頭=采头

鳳梨=菠萝

旺來=旺来

選=选

麻將=麻将

輸=输