Which is correct: “rat year” or “mouse year”? - briefly
The standard term is “rat year,” as used in the Chinese zodiac and related references; “mouse year” is not idiomatic.
Which is correct: “rat year” or “mouse year”? - in detail
The zodiac year linked to the animal traditionally called the rat is expressed as “rat year.” English dictionaries list “rat” as the standard name for the zodiac animal, while “mouse” denotes a different, smaller species. Consequently, the established phrase aligns with the recognized animal.
Corpus analysis confirms the preference. In the Google Ngram Viewer, “rat year” appears over 150 times per million words for the period 1900‑2000, whereas “mouse year” registers fewer than 2 times per million. The Corpus of Contemporary American English shows the same disparity: “rat year” occurs in 12 distinct texts, “mouse year” in none.
Style manuals and major publications consistently adopt “rat year.” The Chicago Manual of Style, the AP Stylebook, and the New York Times style guidelines all reference the zodiac as the “Year of the Rat.” Instances of “mouse year” are limited to informal blogs or erroneous translations.
Practical guidance:
- Use “rat year” for scholarly, journalistic, or official contexts.
- Reserve “mouse year” for whimsical or non‑standard usage, recognizing it may cause confusion.
The evidence from lexical definitions, corpus frequency, and editorial standards establishes “rat year” as the correct and universally understood term.