Baa-ram-ewe, baa-ram-ewe, to the Year of the Goat-Ram-Sheep be true

So, which is it? Is 2015 the Year of the Goat? Year of the Sheep? Year of the Ram?

I’ve had several people ask me, and the answer is easy: it’s all of them.

In Chinese, it’s Year of the 羊, and 羊 can refer to either a goat or a sheep. (“Ram” gets thrown in the mix because it sounds cool in English.)

For an interesting and well-written explanation on this, plus a fascinating discussion in the comments, see Year of the Ovicaprid.

Fair warning: I have a degree in linguistics. What is “interesting” and “fascinating” to me might be “incomprehensible” and “nerd-fest” to you.

Since 羊 is ambiguous in Chinese, both goats and sheep get portrayed for New Year’s decorations and paraphernalia. Here’s a sample.

We knew we’d be seeing a lot of this guy, the most famous sheep in all of China, 喜羊羊. Actually, I always thought he was a sheep, but it recently dawned on me that he does in fact have horns, plus, the English name of the cartoon is Pleasant Goat and Big Big Wolf, so, I guess he’s on Team Goat.

Hong Kong Disneyland went with goat…

…but McDonald’s went with Shaun the Sheep.

Here’s a plethora of sheep toys at Walmart. Plus 喜羊羊’s friend 美羊羊 whom I now suspect is also a goat.

The hongbao manufacturers couldn’t decide.

Door decorations were available in both; here’s a goat set.

Whether you choose goat or sheep, it’s apparently not a very lucky zodiac animal. Those who are superstitious tried to make sure their babies were born a few weeks ago, during Year of the Horse. We’ve heard that couples are also waiting to have a baby next year so that their child will be smart and clever since it will be Year of the Monkey.

Fascinating stuff. (Or, okay, nerd-fest.)

I’ll leave you with a special Year of the Goat-Ram-Sheep greeting that I found here.

All photos copyright smalltownlaowai except: goat 2015 (hkfengshui.com), stamp (blog.sina.com.cn), papercut (58pic.com), door decorations (huitu.com).