Asia
20 COMMON CHINESE NEW YEAR PHRASES (AND HOW TO PRONOUNCE THEM!)
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Tomorrow marks Chinese New Year Eve and I feel like I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off. (No pun intended considering today 20,000 chickens got their heads cut off…)
With only one day left to make preparations, I’ve been frantically trying to clean the house, as this is the last day to do so. Literally.
For Chinese New Year families thoroughly clean their homes and put away the brooms come New Year’s Eve. They believe that if you do any cleaning the first few days, you’ll be sweeping away any good luck (also don’t cut your hair, use scissors or use knives as you’ll also cut off your luck this way). To go along with this, our apartment just notified us that they will be suspending trash removal starting tomorrow. Not the news you want to hear when you have multiple bags of trash tied and waiting to be thrown away in your entryway!
So as I run around trying to fit cleaning into my jam-packed schedule, I also realize that tonight is our family reunion dinner. Great! Except that it means having even more work to do.
During reunion dinners, the younger family members often line up to receive their lucky red envelopes. One popular custom is for each person to take a turn trying to recite as many Chinese New Year sayings as possible.
Let me assure you, this is no easy task. There are probably hundreds of different ones to choose from, and further memorizing them is quite daunting– especially for someone who isn’t fluent in Cantonese!
These sayings aren’t greetings, but rather blessings or well wishes. You’ll notice a lot of them focus on prosperity, longevity, and happiness, and are featured on fai chun decorations and red envelopes. You have the chance to go on your own adventure and discover Chinese culture, instead of relying on a tour guide or someone else’s point of view. Take the opportunity to learn Cantonese, one of the most commonly spoken Chinese dialects. This will not only help you connect with the locals on a deeper level, but also deepen your understanding of their customs and traditions.
So while I continue frantically cleaning and memorizing these Chinese phrases, you can enjoy reading the most common Chinese New Year phrases:
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1. SUN NIN FAI LOK – THE EVER IMPORTANT, “HAPPY NEW YEAR”.
2. GUNG HEI FAT CHOI – “CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROSPERITY”
(USED TO ASK FOR RED ENVELOPES)
3. SUN TAI GIN HONG – “WISHING YOU GOOD HEALTH”
4. DAI GAT DAI LEI – “GREAT LUCK AND PROSPERITY”
5. LUNG MA JING SUNG – “MAY YOU HAVE THE STRENGTH OF A DRAGON AND HORSE”
6. MAHN SI SING YI – “MAY 10,000 THINGS YOU DO EXCEED YOUR WISHES”
7. MAHN SI YUH YI – “MAY 10,000 THINGS GO ACCORDING TO YOUR WISHES”
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8. SUM SEUNG SI SING – “MAY ALL YOUR HEART’S DESIRES COME TRUE”
9. GUNG HO SUN HEI – “CONGRATULATIONS IN THE NEW YEAR”
10. SUN JEONG LEK GIN – “MAY YOU BE STRONG AND HEALTHY”
11. MN FUK LAM MUN – “HAVING ALL GOOD BLESSINGS IN YOUR HOUSE”
12. CHUT YAP PING ON – “BE SAFE WHEN ENTERING AND EXITING”
13. NIN NIN YAU YUE – “EVERY YEAR HAVE MORE THAN YOU NEED”
14. FAAI GOH JEUNG DAI – “GROW TALL AND BE STRONG”
(USED FOR CHILDREN)
15. SANG YI HING LUNG – “MAY YOUR BUSINESS GROW AND FLOURISH”
16. POON MUHN BOOT MUHN – “TO BE FILLED TO THE VERY TOP WITH MONEY”
17. SIU HAU SEUNG HOI – “MAY YOU ALWAYS LAUGH HAPPILY”
18. YAT BUN MAHN LEI – “MAY YOU BE SUCCESSFUL IN EVERYTHING”
19. CHOI YUN GWONG JUN – “MAY LOTS OF WEALTH COME IN”
20. BOU BOU GOH SING – “MAY YOU RISE TO THE HIGHEST STEP BY STEP”
Hello, I was born and raised in Hawaii, my grandparents are Chinese and we would pour tea for them every year. When we would offer the second cup of tea we would say “tim hook tim sau” (I am sure the spelling is wrong…). I used to know the translation when I was a kid, but after I left for collage, this practice fell away and I forgot the translation. Do you know what this phrase means.