We are entering the Year of the Rabbit just. On this occasion, we like to share with you how to make greetings and wishes for Chinese New Year.
There are four ways to make greetings and wishes for Chinese New Year.
1. Universal expressions used for new year’s greetings and wishes
Common expressions are used to wish a happy new year such as 新年快乐 happy new year、万事如意 everythihg goes well、诸事顺利 everything goes well、心想事成 all wishes come true、阖家欢乐 family fun、福星高照 a lucky star shines on high、财运亨通 the road to wealth is wide open、吉祥如意 good luch and happiness to you、etc. You can say these expressions for every new year now matter it is the year of rabbit, dragon, tigre, or any other animals.
2. Special set phrases
Any set phrases related to the animal of the year, which have positive meanings, can be used to make greetings and wishes, such as 牛气冲天 (good luch in the coming year) for the year of the Ox, 马到成功 (I wish you a speedy success) for the year of the horse, 生龙活虎 (brimming with energy) for the year of the Dragon or Ox, etc.
3. Replacing the animal of a set phrase to express new year’s greetings and wishes
Replace the animal in a set phrase with the animal of the year, for example: 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit, people just replace 龙 in the set phrases 龙腾虎跃 with 兔，and it becomes 龙腾兔跃 (dragons rising and tigers leaping)，生龙活虎 ( brimming with energy) becomes 生龙活兔，虎头虎脑 (looking dignified and strong) becomes 兔头兔脑, etc. Attention, this way is not applied for all animals, and the meaning of the new “set phrases” must be considered. If funny, strange or negative meanings are produced, this way won’t be applied. For example, If you replace 虎 in 虎头虎脑 with 猪，it will become 猪头猪脑, which means stupid.
4. Homophonic expressions are applied for new year’s greetings and wishes
Replace the character of a word or set phrase with the character of the animal of the year if the two characters are homophonic or have similar pronunction. For example, 突出 (prominent or stand out) becomes 兔出，前途无量 (have boundless prospects) becomes 前兔无量，大展宏图 (realize one ‘s ambition) becomes 大展宏兔，etc.
People even use the pronunciation of English words to “play this game”, for example 好事成双 (good things come in pairs)，双 means two, the pronunciation of two is very similar to the pronunciation of 兔，so they say 好事成兔 (from 好事成双)，工资成兔 (from 工资成双 salary doubles)，假期成兔 (假期成双 vocation time doubles), etc.
“To be number 1”, they will say “兔必No.1”.
Well, that’s for the four ways to make greetings and wishes for Chinese New Year. I will use what we have studied in this post to wish you: 在兔年：大展宏兔，前兔似锦，生龙活兔，好事成兔，兔必NO.1.
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