# Happy New Year!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [February 10, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846 "2013-02-10T04:03:53Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846/1 "2013-02-10T04:03:53Z")

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Or _Sin Jia Yu Ee_, as it’s said in the wife’s ancestral dialect. (She’s Chiew Chao ethnicity. Various spellings including [Teochew](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teochew_people).) The Year of the Snake.

It’s not an official holiday in Thailand, but ethnic Chinese dominate politics and business in this country. The [large Chinese-Thai temple](http://pidgees.multiply.com/photos/album/3/Chinese-Thai-Temple#photo=1) we can see from our condo is hopping today, and the sounds of firecrackers are everywhere.

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**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846/2 "2013-02-10T15:19:20Z")

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Damn. And I’m still writing Year of the Dragon on my checks.

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**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846/3 "2013-02-10T15:26:44Z")

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I remember a few years back, in Vietnam, when everybody laughed at me for writing Rabbit instead of Cat whenever I dated a document.

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**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846/4 "2013-02-10T16:00:24Z")

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Gung hey fat choy!\*

\*No-doubt very inaccurate Anglo mistransliteration of the Cantonese…

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**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\
**Post date:** [February 10, 2013, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/happy-new-year/649846/5 "2013-02-10T17:51:25Z")

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Time to blow something up and dance with mythical beasts!