John Mitchell Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 It's Chinese New Year time again and lunar confusion reigns. Has anyone figured out if this one is Year of the Goat, Year of the Ram, or Year of the Sheep? Alamy Measures shows client searches for all three. I'm also hearing and seeing all three names used in the media. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanGibson Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 I've seen quite a few photos from China and Hong Kong celebrating sheep. But I have heard that it could be goat. My money's on sheep, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaJ Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Looks like it can be all three. There's something about the confusion here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-31511109 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Isn't it the year of the Snake? Err, just checked it out, it's the year of the sheep, apparently. How come I missed the year of the snake two years ago!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Looks like it can be all three. There's something about the confusion here: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-31511109 Thanks, Maria. Entertaining little video. So it's really "Year of the Horned Animal." I'll put goat, sheep, and ram in my keywords anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Isn't it the year of the Snake? Hmmm... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vpics Posted February 19, 2015 Share Posted February 19, 2015 Isn't it the year of the Snake? Hmmm... I know, but I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 19, 2015 Author Share Posted February 19, 2015 Isn't it the year of the Snake? Hmmm... I know, but I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere ... Could just have been a snake in sheep's clothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Rooney Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 No snake this year. It's a ram or goat or sheep depending on the local culture. In Vietnam, I think they have no sheep, just goats. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TokyoM1ke Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Same here in Japan, nobody is quite sure what it is but, sheep, goats and rams (subset of sheep, after all) are all perfectly acceptable. Mind you, the Japanese new year happened on 1 January (including the change of animal). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sparks Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Noticed on the BBC news one point that might help. The Chinese symbol for writing the word goat, sheep or ram is the same "letter". in the Chinese alphabet which they showed on the screen. Hence the slight confusion. When you read this symbol you can put in which word/animal you like. I suppose it would depend on the overall context of the sentence. Not that I can read Chinese but it was an interesting point. Best regards Sparks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Yarvin Posted February 20, 2015 Share Posted February 20, 2015 Sparks: Did you read that in my new book "Lamb: A Global History" from Reaktion Books? I go into this very topic in the text. I researched this at the New York Public Library using its amazing dictionary collection. (I always have a rough time with Chinese-only dictionaries, but sometimes, you just have sit down and do your work.) Actually, the book won't be out 'till the fall, but it has lots of great sheep meat recipes and plenty of historical background. Thank you for letting me get a plug in! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Mitchell Posted February 20, 2015 Author Share Posted February 20, 2015 Thanks for all the informative replies. It sounds as if the mystery has been solved -- a case of lost in translation, as it were. Sorry, Brian, I gave up eating sheep (along with goats and rams) a long time ago, but I'm sure you've put an interesting book together. Happy Year of the Whatever Animal You Like, everyone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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