How to Say ‘Surplus’ in Simplified Chinese
余
💬 Usage Tip: [余] means “extra/surplus.” Fun fact: [余] sounds like [鱼] (fish), which is why fish is symbolic at New Year.
🇨🇳 In China: Because of the sound link between [余] and [鱼], people like serving fish and saying [年年有余] to express “abundance every year.”
Word-by-Word Breakdown
余
[yú]
surplus; extra; leftover
In New Year greetings, 余 means “surplus/abundance.” It sounds like 鱼 (fish), so people also serve fish for the pun 年年有余.
过年要吃鱼，图个年年有余的余。
We eat fish at New Year to symbolize “surplus every year.”
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