Is this the Year of the Pig or the Year of the Boar? Some of my friends sent WhatsApp messages to say Happy New Year of the Pig. Others said Happy New Year of the Boar. But no one said Happy New Year of the Swine or Happy New Year of the Hog. In fact, a pig, a boar, a swine, and a hog all mean the same animal, with minor differences, but most people commonly call it a pig. As we all know, a pig is a large pink, brown, or black animal with short legs, a short tail, and a snout. Many animals have a snout, which means the nose and mouth of the animal. A pig’s snout is flat but some animals have snouts that stick out.
The main difference between a pig and a boar is that a boar is a male pig which has not been castrated. The word “castrate” means to remove the testicles of a man or a male animal. Testicles are the two oval-shaped organs that produce sperm in males. Farmers often do not castrate boars so they can continue to produce pigs. Boars are also darker.
My friends often pig out when we go to restaurants but I don’t like pigging out because it makes my stomach feel very uncomfortable. I wish you all a Happy New Year of the Pig.
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今年到底是 the Year of the Pig抑或 the Year of the Boar？有些朋友傳 WhatsApp短訊給我，慶賀豬年快樂，有些會說 Happy New Year of the Pig，有些則說 Happy New Year of the Boar，但從沒有人會說 Happy New Year of the Swine或Happy New Year of the Hog。事實上，a pig、a boar、a swine和a hog全都指同一種動物，只是有着些微的差別，但大部分人都會叫牠做 pig。眾所周知，pig就是有着短腳、短尾巴和豬嘴（snout）的粉紅、啡或黑色的豬。許多動物都有一個snout，即動物的口鼻部。豬嘴（pig’s snout）是平的，但有些動物則有凸出的口鼻（snouts）。
A pig和a boar的主要分別在於，boar是指未被閹割的（castrated）公豬（pig）。Castrate是指割去男性或雄性動物的testicles，就是睾丸——雄性用以製造精子的兩個卵形器官。農夫通常不會閹割（castrate）公豬（boars），好讓牠們繼續繁殖豬隻（pigs）。公豬（boars）的毛色通常比較深。
我和朋友去餐廳吃飯時，他們經常狼吞虎嚥地吃（pig out）；但我就不喜歡狂吃（pigging out）了，因為那會令我的胃很不舒服。在此祝大家豬（Pig）年快樂！mickchug@gmail.com
中譯:七刻
Michael Chugani 褚簡寧
