吉祥如意

Pronunciation: jí xiáng rú yì Literal meaning: Auspicious, and as you wish

Origin & Usage

The commonest of all Chinese New Year wishes hides a sheep in plain sight. 祥, auspiciousness, is built on the 羊 radical, and in Han-dynasty bronze inscriptions the compound 吉祥 was regularly written 吉羊 — the sheep and the blessing were the same word. Ancient writers treated the animal as the emblem of everything mild, well-fed and safe, which is why the oracle-bone form of 美, beauty, is a human figure crowned with a ram's horns. Saying 吉祥如意 in a Goat year is therefore not a pun laid on top of the greeting; it is the greeting returning to its own root.

Examples

English: "The card carried the plainest and best of wishes: good fortune, and everything as you hope."

Chinese: 祝您新春吉祥如意，阖家安康。