氣味相投 (Idiom)

I read on the paper that there have been so-called “pheromone parties” in some cities, where guests find their match by smelling. Before the parties, each guest has slept in a T-shirt for three nights in a row to capture their odor. Each T-shirt is put into a bag and assigned a number for the guests to smell. People in the parties find their dates based on scents.

In Chinese we have an idiom for this perfectly. When two people have a lot  in common, sharing similar interests or temperaments and are compatible with each other, we often say they’re氣味相投 (qi4 wei4 xiang tou2), having compatible scents.

According to Wikipedia, A pheromone is a secreted or excreted chemical factor that triggers a social response in members of the same species. Long before the term was coined, Chinese had used the idiom to describe people turning into friends because they have compatible scents.

Sometimes we might jokingly change it into “臭味相投(chou4 wei4 xiang tou2) ” to make fun of what we like. 臭味is stink.

You might be wrong if you think everyone likes fragrant smells. Some people, unlike most other, may have unique tastes and prefer stinky ones. We have a term for these people, 逐臭之夫(zhu2 chou4 zhi fu)，man who chase after smelly.

Another thing I’d like to bring up here is that in English we use “romantic chemistry” to refer to a romantic attraction between two people. In Chinese we use “electricity” as we say 來電 (lai2 dian4), literally meaning “having electricity.” Don’t mix this up with another condition, when someone’s calling you on the phone, we may also say “someone just來電. “

Pheromone or scent, they’re all chemistry in fact. I guess these terms all make sense.

氣味相投=气味相投

來電=来电

Pork’s feet with thin noodles (Custom)

I think it’s a good idea to sell 豬腳麵線(zhu jiao3 mian4 xian4), pork’s feet with thin noodles, outside Taiwan’s prisons. Why? What’s so special about the food?




You might have seen such a scene from Taiwan’s news: A celebrity comes home from prison after doing his time, greeted by his family with a dish like this. Without exception he will eat the food, some even accompanied by a ritual called 過火(guo4 hou3), stepping over burning flames.

It’s been Taiwanese’s belief that eating豬腳麵線 can rid people of ill luck. So people eat 豬腳麵線 to get rid of ill luck. People who just leave prison or survive a disaster such as a car crash certainly have some ill luck to kick away. This is why they eat pork’s leg—let the pig’s feet do the kicking!

And 麵線, fine noodles, symbolize longevity since they’re long. Back in grandma’s time, people ate豬腳麵線 on their birthday. They were cautions about not cutting off the noodles while cooking or taking them into the bowls, which is a bad sign—cutting off your longevity.

These days those who sell豬腳麵線must be happy, because we have another custom that is related to this food. This year we have an extra lunar fourth month, which is called intercalary month, 閏月(run4 yue4), which is said to be bad for parents’ longevity. So those married daughters will get 豬腳麵線 for their own parents as a wish for their health and longevity.

Well, for Taiwanese sometimes food is not only food. Got some bad luck to kick away? Let the pigs do the job for you. What about kicking ass? That I don’t know.

豬腳麵線=猪脚面线

過火=过火

閏月=闰月