As many of my readers probably also know, in Chinese tradition each year is associated one of the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac. Consequently, this year is the Year of the Rat. Or is it? Well, it all depends on how you translate the Chinese word lao shu (lao means "old"--presumably a reference to a rat's or mouse's whiskers). The fact of the matter is that Chinese speakers sometimes use lao shu to refer to both rats and mice. Separate words for "rat" (haozi) and "mouse" (xiao haozi--xiao means "little") do exist, but they are not always used to distinguish the two animals. This lack of precision is somewhat surprising, given that in some cases Chinese makes more subtle distinctions than does English. This is certainly true in the case of terms for family relationships. For example, in English we use the word uncle to refer to a man who is the brother or brother-in-law of someone's mother or father. On the other hand, in Chinese there are separate terms for your father's older brother (bofu), your father's younger brother (shufu), your mother's brother (jiujiu), your mother's sister's husband (yizhang), and your father's sister's husband (guzhang).
I suspect that for many Americans (or Westerners in general), "Year of the Mouse" sounds a little less jarring than "Year of the Rat," given that we tend to view mice as "cute," while rats are definitely not "cute." However, I'm not sure that Chinese people necessarily see it that way. Nevertheless, regardless of what you call it, I will wish everyone celebrating this holiday a very happy new year!
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