Mandarin Monday: We Wish You a Merry Egg Laying

When in Rome, do as the Romans do. When in China during Christmas, embrace the sometimes strange but always interesting ways that Christmas customs and phrases have been adopted in the Middle Kingdom. After all, who said you can’t listen to 圣诞颂歌 shèng dàn sòng gē (Christmas carols) while devouring 火锅 huǒ guō (hot pot) when the weather outside is cold and frightful?

Today, we will take a look at several useful Chinese phrases that have been born out of the growing popularity of Christmas.

苹果/ 平安果 píng guǒ/píng'ān guǒ

Don't be too surprised if somebody offers you a delicious, shiny apple this Christmas. This relatively new custom originated because of the Chinse love of puns: 苹果 píng guǒ means apple, while 平安夜 píng'ān yè refers to the “Silent Night.” Because the first characters are homonyms (苹/平 píng), it became the tradition that distributing apples on Christmas represented a good omen for a peaceful year ahead.

Example

老板，苹果怎么都没了啊。 lǎobǎn, píng guǒ zěnme dōu méiliǎo a. Why did the apples sell out so quickly today?
咳，今儿个平安夜，都跟这儿买苹果送人呢。hāi, jīn er gè píng'ān yè, dōu gēn zhè'er mǎi píng guǒ sòng rén ne. Well, it is Christmas Eve. Today, everybody bought them to give away.

圣诞节/生蛋节 shèngdàn jié/shēng dàn jié

Again, the versatility of the Chinese language and love of wordplay gives us another fun and off-the-wall Christmas expression. Thanks to the similarities between the words 圣诞 shèngdàn jié (Christmas) and 生蛋 shēng dàn (laying eggs), you can now wish everybody a very happy, festive egg-laying season. If you want to further distort eveything you once knew and loved about Christmas, you can also call Santa Klaus, 圣诞老人 shèng dàn lǎorén, 生蛋老人shēng dàn lǎorén, the old man with the egg-laying problem. Finally, using the same trick, Merry Christmas 圣诞快乐 shèng dàn kuàilè, becomes 生蛋快乐 shēng dàn kuàilè – happy eggs laying, everybody!

Example

生蛋快乐啊！shēng dàn kuài lè a! Happy Egg-Laying Day!
谁生蛋了，我又不是母鸡。shéi shēng dàn le, wǒ yòu bú shì mǔ jī. Who laid an egg? I am not a hen! *eye-roll emoji*

圣诞套餐 shèng dàn jié tào cān

Because Christmas does not have the same cultural significance in China as in the West, nor is it a time that families generally gather together, plenty of restaurants and businesses have found it easy to market it as a kind of romantic couple's evening instead. At this time of year, you'll see restaurants advertising 圣诞套餐 shèng dàn jié tào cān, Christmas packages set menus, which usually consist of your usual Christmas fare.

Example
圣诞节套餐，只要398！shèng dàn jié tào cān, zhǐ yào sān jiǔ bā! Christmas dinner, only RMB 398!
算了吧，感恩节的还没消化完呢. suàn le ba, gǎn'ēn jié de hái méi xiāo huà wán ne. No thanks, I'm still digesting Thanksgiving.

铃儿响叮当 líng'er xiǎng dīng dāng

For many Chinese who were born after the 1980s, “Jingle Bells” was probably the first Christmas song they have ever heard. Years later, even among people who don’t really celebrate Christmas, it's hard not to hum along when they hear this merry jingle at the mall. 铃儿 líng'er is the cute way to say bell while 响叮当 xiǎng dīng dāng describes how the bells ring and jingle joyfully.

Example

叮叮当，叮叮当，铃儿响叮当。 dīng dīng dāng, dīng dīng dāng, líng er xiǎng dīng dāng. Jingle bells, jingle bells. jingle all the way!

圣诞要你命 shèng dàn yào nǐ mìng

Finally, there's something strangely comforting about the fact that Christmas carols get on everybody's nerves eventually, even here in China. This expression, which literally means "Christmas is killing you" was originally coined to refer to the classic Mariah Carey hit "All I Want for Christmas," but now refers to all those over-played, ear-wormy, relentlessly-cheery Christmas songs you hear in malls (and your local 711) the world over (see last entry above).

Example

OMG！圣诞要你命居然拿了Billboard周冠军。OMG! shèng dàn yào nǐ mìng jū rán ná le Billboard zhōu guàn jūn. OMG! "All I Want for Christmas is You” ranked #1 in this week’s Billboard!
要不然怎么叫牛姐的养老保险呢。 yào bù rán zěnme jiào niú jiě de yǎng lǎo bǎo xiǎn ne. Well, no wonder people call it "Sister Cow" (Mariah Carey’s) endowment insurance.

READ: No-Kids-Allowed Christmas: 8 Parties to Rock Your Stockings

Images: Uni You, Brina Blum (via Unsplash), Judith Prins (via Unsplash), Aaron Burden (via Unsplash), Spotify/Mariah Carey