# Chinese zodiac place mats **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450 "2017-01-18T04:12:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/1 "2017-01-18T04:12:31Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/2 "2017-01-18T11:29:32Z")
They are boaring? ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/3 "2017-01-18T13:30:56Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/4 "2017-01-18T13:39:59Z")
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](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. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/5 "2017-01-18T14:19:27Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/6 "2017-01-18T15:10:51Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Azeotrope](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/0ea827/32.png) [@Azeotrope](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Azeotrope)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/7 "2017-01-18T15:25:08Z")
> [@Cardigan](#): > > 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? 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. ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/8 "2017-01-18T17:22:18Z")
> [@ftg](#): > > 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. Holy hot mustard, Batman! I’m not a dog after all. I’m a roster. Now I have to change my whole personality. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![tenacious\_j](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/439d5e/32.png) [@tenacious\_j](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tenacious_j)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/9 "2017-01-18T17:40:34Z")
[http://yourchineseastrology.com](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.” ---
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/10 "2017-01-18T19:37:24Z")
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 ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 8:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/11 "2017-01-20T08:47:07Z")
Here’s another counter example: > [@](#): > > Pig > > Pigs are known for their sincerity, purity and tolerance. They like to give, yield and serve. They are also an excellent companion. They however tend to go slow over urgent issues are stubborn at times. A Pig rhymes very well with a fellow pig and the goat. They also make good combination with Rabbits & Rats. Pigs are the most compatible with all other signs. They are compatible with Pig, Rabbit and Horse. > **[Chinese zodiac | New Dating](https://www.new-dating.com/magazine-one.php?article=807)** > > Read more about online dating, love and relations and find your romantic date among many personal singles profiles #807 ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2017, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chinese-zodiac-place-mats/777450/12 "2017-01-25T18:50:22Z")
> [@mixdenny](#): > > 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 I asked the [identical question](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=397461&highlight=chinese) 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.