2008 | AugustNinth
Tomorrow Yesterday, as we all have been reminded all too many times, is the opening day of the Beijing Olympics, 2008 (08/08 at 8:08:08 p.m). A bit excessive, perhaps? But it’s all within reason. Where for the western word, 7 is the crowning glory of the word, in Chinese culture, the number 8 gets that particular glory. Personally, I like 13 better, but I’m biased in regards to my personal auspicions.
So what’s so great about eight? The regular hype that surrounds most superstitions of sino nature - the fact that it sounds like another words in Chinese. Remember Happy New Years in canto? Well, it actually translates better to Prosper and Have Good Fortunes. Roughly. The “fat” (fa in mandarin pinyin) means “to prosper.” So “fa” sounds like “ba” which is 8. Simple, yes? But not unique in its origins, since 4 is the 13 of Chinese culture, sounding similar to si: death (related).
But numbers are just as significant in modern day China as they are tied to more traditional superstitions. Remember 733t (leet)? You can’t get away from it even out of the English-speaking world. Since the pronunciation of numbers can be associated with similar pronunciations of words, they can substitute characters when it comes to such corner-cutting communications like texting. Example, say you? 8=ba=bye. At a stretch, but hey, we’re breaking down the language barrier here.
