520: A Chinese Love Word and Number to Know

May. 19, 2020

You maybe need know the 520 means in China if you are cooperation with Chinese.

Tomorrow is 5.20, May the 20th. It may seem like a normal day for you, but for others, especially in China, tomorrow is a very special day! It’s a day of love. Read on to learn how 520 became a Chinese love word!

Why is today so special in China?

The 20th of May is a very special day for the Chinese because they celebrate love on this day! For the Chinese, today is like Valentine’s day.

During this lovely day, couples go on a date or spend time together. And for those who are single, well, it’s a perfect time for them to be brave and show their love to their man crush! Nobody can resist a declaration of love for this special event!

How did 5.20 come to equal a Chinese love word that says I love you?

Talking about this special event, you may wonder why it occurs on this day and not another one in Chinese. The answer is quite simple. It’s all about the sounds. When you write May 20th in numbers, it’s written 5.20. When you pronounce the numbers 5. 2. 0 in Chinese, 五二零 wǔ èr líng, they sound very close to the words 我爱你 wǒ ài nǐ. See? They don’t sound exactly the same, but they sound quite similar, and that’s enough! The Chinese love plays on homophonic words and numbers with hidden meanings.

520 originally started as a slang word used by the Chinese online as a shortcut to say I love you in Chinese, like ILY in English. It then came to be associated with the date May 20th (5.20), which therefore became a very romantic day!

The Chinese love numbers and their hidden meanings

The Chinese people sure love this romantic day, as they have strong beliefs when it comes to numbers. You may know how some numbers are considered lucky and some unauspicious in Chinese. Certain number combinations also have secret meanings.

For example, did you hear of the wedding record set in China on the 2012.12.12? In China, tons of couples got married on that special day because it was said to be a lucky day for lovers. See, in Chinese, you can pronounce 12 一二 yāo èr. (in Chinese, when talking about a phone number or a street, 1 is pronounced yāo instead of yī). The sound of yāoèr is close to the sound of 要爱 yào ài which means to want love. So 2012.12.12 stood for “to want love, to want love, to want love”. What a lovely day to get married, huh?!

I love you, express it in different languages

Chinese: 我爱你

Albanian - Te dua

English - I love you

Finnish - Mina rakastan sinua

French - Je t'aime, Je t'adore

Gaelic - Ta gra agam ort

Georgian - Mikvarhar

German - Ich liebe dich

Greek - S'agapo

Irish - Taim i' ngra leat

Italian- Ti amo