Happy Mother’s Day in Chinese
Mu-Qin-Jie Kuai-Le
Mu Qin (pronounced moo cheen) is a mother.
Jie (pronounced jee-eh) is a festival day or holiday.
Kuai Le (pronounced kwie-luh) is happiness, joy, pleasure, delight, or rejoicing.
So Mother + Day + Happy, pronounced moo cheen jee-eh kwie luh, Mu Qin Jie Kuai Le is how you say “Happy Mother’s Day” in Mandarin Chinese.
A distinct feature of the mother “mu” character is presence of two dots. They are said to represent two nipples of a breast-feeding mother. If you look at the ancient Chinese characters you can see a resemblance between the “mother” and the “female” characters. A female character with two dots becomes the mother character. Picture a mother feeding and embracing a baby in her arms. The bottom part of the ancient characters look like legs in a sitting position. The resemblance is less obvious in the modern character.
Posted: May 2nd, 2008 under Greetings.
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There are many naming experts who advise on the do’s and don’t’s of naming, but then there are always creative entreprerneurs who break the rules.
MSNBC reported that a New York City Japanese eatery, Hakata Tonton, boasts that eating collagen-rich pig’s feet is the key to youthful skin.
In a Japan Times interview, Himi Okajima, chef and owner of Hakata Tonton, called Tonsoku “the next sushi.” He claims that Americans will adjust to this cuisine just as they now enjoy sushi and the once unappealing notion of raw fish. Today sushi is part of mainstream American dining and it is readily available even in supermarkets. Okajima says that promoting Tonsoku’s health and beauty benefits will open Americans to the idea of eating pig’s feet.
NBC Nightly News has a video (