1. 鱼 菜桌上绝对会有的一道菜，因为「鱼」跟年年有馀的「馀」同音，「馀」的英文是 surplus 、 abundance，所以可以这么解释： The character fish has the same sound as the word “abundance,” so by eating the fish, it means it’ll bring you a year of abundance. 我们好像习惯讲 fish，常常忽略每一种鱼也都有自己的英文单字，来学一些鱼的英文名字吧！

鲑鱼：salmon

 鲔鱼：tuna

鲈鱼：perch

鲷鱼：snapper

 鲭鱼：mackerel

鳗鱼：eel

鳕鱼：cod

鳟鱼：trout

石斑鱼：grouper

 

 2. 水饺 因为水饺与古时候中国用的金元宝外型相似，所以水饺象徵著富裕。 The shape of dumplings resembles ancient Chinese gold, so having dumplings on Chinese New Year symbolizes taking in wealth. 同时包水饺还是个阖家欢乐的活动，从杆麵团到比谁包的水饺最好的过程都很适合动员全家。 Plus making dumplings with the whole family is also a very fun activity to do, from making the dough to competing who makes the best dumplings, are all very entertaining. 来学学水饺各种内馅的英文吧！

内馅：stuffing

韭菜：leek

高丽菜：cabbage

猪肉：pork

玉米：corn

泡菜：kimchi

芹菜：celery

鲜虾：shrimp

青葱：scallion

 

3. 桔子 「桔」与大吉大利的「吉」音相似。(「谐音」的英文可以说 homophonic pun，通常都会省略前面，直接讲 pun。) This one is also a homophonic pun, the character of tangerine is similar to the word lucky, so eating oranges is a symbol of good luck. 桔子所属的「柑橘属」的英文是 citrus fruit ，跟他同为一家人的水果还有这些。 柠檬：lemon 柚子：pomelo 柳橙：orange 莱姆：lime 金桔：kumquat

 

4. 年糕 年糕的「糕」与步步高升的「高」同音。 The Chinese word for sticky rice cake is a homonym for the word “year” and “high,” so this cake symbolizes an increased prosperity for the year.

 

5. 汤圆 「汤圆」音近「团圆」，是我们在许多节日裡都会吃的食物，也是在台湾的婚礼一定会有的一道菜。 The sweet round dumplings in Chinese sounds like “get together” in Chinese, it’s something we eat during a lot of family reunion holidays, and it’s also a must-have-dish in the weddings in Taiwan. 台湾的许多小吃，翻译成英文也都是归类在 dumpling 家族裡。

韭菜盒：fried leek dumplings

 粽子：rice dumplings

蒸饺：steamed dumplings

 汤包：soup dumplings

水饺：dumplings