I was perusing the place mat this afternoon as I ate my Kung Pao. They are predictably simple. Draw all the signs in a circle. The one across from your year is the one to avoid. The signs one third around the circle are your best bets for friends, marriage, etc.
Except for the boar. Instead of some wisdom like “stay away from snakes” (I think) it reads, “avoid other boars”.
How come?
Dennis
They are boaring?
I often wondered why Chinese zodiac placemats were (I guess still are) so ubiquitous. Also, why are red and black 1970-looking furniture/interiors so prevalent among these establishments? Good Feng shui?
It’s all bull of course, but your described exception does not match these compatibility charts: https://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/compatibility.htm
As to why? For the same reason my horoscope this morning could possibly have said “beware of making big decisions” (I wouldn’t know, I haven’t come across a horoscope in years), because whomever wrote it felt like mixing it up that way.
Because there’s a handful of outfits (in FL, I believe) who service the majority of the basic Chinese restaurants in the US with the same supplies.
And why don’t they correct for the start of the actual Chinese New Year? Coming up this Saturday. (It varies from 21 January and 20 February.) So a person born this year is only a Rooster if born on or after that date.
I think in older places it was meant to look exotic and foreign, since people didn’t go out to eat as often and wanted an Experience. Then the next generation copied the look because that’s what people expected in a Chinese restaurant.
Most newer places I’ve been to have more conventional color schemes and limit the Chinese-ness (for lack of a better term) to the art and tchotchkes.
Holy hot mustard, Batman! I’m not a dog after all. I’m a roster. Now I have to change my whole personality. :eek:
http://yourchineseastrology.com
Says: The pig people live well with the silent rabbit and the sheep people, and can get along with lots of others, but “two pig people don’t match well as they couldn’t complement each other perfectly. When meeting things, they two will both lose their bearings and lose confidence. Also, for the horses, it’s hard to deal with the snakes and monkeys, as they are too smart and cunning.”
Thanks Tenacious, I knew there was a scientific reason behind it. Another observation: I have eaten in Chinese places a lot, hundreds of times. And although the fortunes run into common themes, I don’t recall ever getting two the same.
My wife is Asian and can’t figure them out at all until I explain them. Funny how often her fortune reads, “Best time for sex, this evening”…
Dennis
Here’s another counter example:
I asked the identical question 10 years ago and never got an answer.
My assumption is that whoever first came up with these had a typo on their version and it simply got replicated, and now all the copycats just assume it’s correct.