Okay, the guest in ep.06 is a businesswoman and/or business owner and/or former operator of some kind of a business. Keep that in mind. Han people in business, whether in big companies or small shop owners or buskers or peddlers, are generally (not always) very superstitious and strong adherents of fengshui.
Literally translated from Mandarin, "hama baoyu" means toad abalone. Let's break it down to understand the words better. Note that all Chinese is simplified script rather than trad for this explanation, also bear in mind that Hans are not the same as other races in China/Taiwan/HK and the Chinese diaspora. Bear in mind that in all Chinese languages/dialects, there are (i) polite, (ii) informal, (iii) colloquial, (iv) poetic, (v) archaic variants. There are also variants used by literary people, officialdom, ordinary folks, bumpkins and coarse people, upper class people, and scientific people. People in these various classes/walks of life also use (i)-(v) differently, depending on context.
hama aka 蛤蟆 = literary/poetic Mandarin for "toad". Colloquial Mandarin for toad uses "chanchu" aka 蟾蜍. Hama is usually used in the idiom literally meaning "toad dreaming of eating a swan's flesh" aka 癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉. That's an inelegant translation that I would translate as "a toad lusting after a swan". The idiom usually means, "ugly guy lusting for and/or sexually desiring a beauty". In modern contexts, it can also mean "unsuitable guy from poor family and/or family with no background and/or no money and no future prospects wanting to marry money and so elevate himself beyond his station".
baoyu aka 鲍鱼 = abalone.
Now that you know the basics of "hama" and "bayou", you may now be thinking, "Why is the dish called hama bayou?" Well, in all Chinese languages, homophones are important. These are words in different writing that sound the same, and so when you speak them, they take on the meaning of the words they sound like. Let me give you an example. In Hokkien/Hoklo (a Chinese dialect) spoken by some Taiwanese, Ong Lai is "pineapple" aka 凤梨 aka fengli in Mandarin. Ong Lai means pineapple in Hokkien, but it sounds like "wealth comes" in Hokkien, also read as "ong lai". Hence, giving pineapple during Chinese New Year to Hokkien people (not all Chinese, mind you, ONLY the Hokkiens) means you are wishing them "may you be blessed with wealth entering your home".
Now, in Mandarin and Cantonese, "baoyu" is the name for abalone (the word is accented differently in Cantonese while still sounding like baoyu). But baoyu also sounds like 保余aka "definitely will have leftovers" or "guaranteed leftovers" in Mandarin and Cantonese, albeit accented different in both languages. This is an auspicious name because in Chinese culture of the Hans, definitely having wealth/prosperity in abundance so much so that you have leftovers is a bloody good thing.
Toads in Chinese fengshui of the Hans are lucky. Yes, toads and not frogs. Why toads? Because frogs have smooth skin and it is believed that smoothness will cause things to slip off easily, whereas toads have coarse and bumpy skin that will cause things to adhere more firmly to the surface of the skin. Among the superstitious and the fengshui believers, this makes toads lucky because it means good fortune and wealth will adhere to the surface of the toad and this will bring you luck. Due to this belief, there is a lucky object called 蟾蜍 aka chanchu aka toad in colloquial Mandarin. In fengshui, it is also known as jin chan aka gold toad (vulgar name for it used by bumpkins) OR toad that beckons wealth aka 招财蟾蜍 aka zhao cai chan chu (proper name used by ordinary people). This is a figurine of a toad sitting on a whole load of ancient Chinese coins and with one such coin in its mouth. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Chan for explanation of this type of fengshui toad figurine.
Combine what you now know about hama and bayou. Do you now see how the name of the dish is significant and auspicious, especially for a businessperson?
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Regarding the hama baoyu in ep.06
Date: 2018-09-30 03:11 pm (UTC)Literally translated from Mandarin, "hama baoyu" means toad abalone. Let's break it down to understand the words better. Note that all Chinese is simplified script rather than trad for this explanation, also bear in mind that Hans are not the same as other races in China/Taiwan/HK and the Chinese diaspora. Bear in mind that in all Chinese languages/dialects, there are (i) polite, (ii) informal, (iii) colloquial, (iv) poetic, (v) archaic variants. There are also variants used by literary people, officialdom, ordinary folks, bumpkins and coarse people, upper class people, and scientific people. People in these various classes/walks of life also use (i)-(v) differently, depending on context.
hama aka 蛤蟆 = literary/poetic Mandarin for "toad". Colloquial Mandarin for toad uses "chanchu" aka 蟾蜍. Hama is usually used in the idiom literally meaning "toad dreaming of eating a swan's flesh" aka 癞蛤蟆想吃天鹅肉. That's an inelegant translation that I would translate as "a toad lusting after a swan". The idiom usually means, "ugly guy lusting for and/or sexually desiring a beauty". In modern contexts, it can also mean "unsuitable guy from poor family and/or family with no background and/or no money and no future prospects wanting to marry money and so elevate himself beyond his station".
baoyu aka 鲍鱼 = abalone.
Now that you know the basics of "hama" and "bayou", you may now be thinking, "Why is the dish called hama bayou?" Well, in all Chinese languages, homophones are important. These are words in different writing that sound the same, and so when you speak them, they take on the meaning of the words they sound like. Let me give you an example. In Hokkien/Hoklo (a Chinese dialect) spoken by some Taiwanese, Ong Lai is "pineapple" aka 凤梨 aka fengli in Mandarin. Ong Lai means pineapple in Hokkien, but it sounds like "wealth comes" in Hokkien, also read as "ong lai". Hence, giving pineapple during Chinese New Year to Hokkien people (not all Chinese, mind you, ONLY the Hokkiens) means you are wishing them "may you be blessed with wealth entering your home".
Now, in Mandarin and Cantonese, "baoyu" is the name for abalone (the word is accented differently in Cantonese while still sounding like baoyu). But baoyu also sounds like 保余aka "definitely will have leftovers" or "guaranteed leftovers" in Mandarin and Cantonese, albeit accented different in both languages. This is an auspicious name because in Chinese culture of the Hans, definitely having wealth/prosperity in abundance so much so that you have leftovers is a bloody good thing.
Toads in Chinese fengshui of the Hans are lucky. Yes, toads and not frogs. Why toads? Because frogs have smooth skin and it is believed that smoothness will cause things to slip off easily, whereas toads have coarse and bumpy skin that will cause things to adhere more firmly to the surface of the skin. Among the superstitious and the fengshui believers, this makes toads lucky because it means good fortune and wealth will adhere to the surface of the toad and this will bring you luck. Due to this belief, there is a lucky object called 蟾蜍 aka chanchu aka toad in colloquial Mandarin. In fengshui, it is also known as jin chan aka gold toad (vulgar name for it used by bumpkins) OR toad that beckons wealth aka 招财蟾蜍 aka zhao cai chan chu (proper name used by ordinary people). This is a figurine of a toad sitting on a whole load of ancient Chinese coins and with one such coin in its mouth. See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jin_Chan for explanation of this type of fengshui toad figurine.
Combine what you now know about hama and bayou. Do you now see how the name of the dish is significant and auspicious, especially for a businessperson?