We’ll clink glasses to just about anything, but what is cheers-ing actually all about?
You know how it goes. You buy a round of pints for you and your mates, and everyone says ‘cheers’. You and the gang raise a glass as the clock strikes midnight on New Year’s Eve with a big cheers. You end an email with a casual sign-off or thank the friendly team member at your local Dan’s – by saying cheers.
Having just come through another holiday season, the word ‘cheers’ has been uttered about 9000 times (in this house, at least) alongside festive tipples and ritual gatherings. And it’s made us wonder why we do the whole cheers thing in the first place. Well, we’ve done a little digging, so next time you’re clinking cups with your pals, you’ll know why.
Word nerds, this one’s for you. These days, the word ‘cheers’ is said as a sign of respect, joy or friendliness when drinking. It’s a word of thanks, both for the drink and the person you’re sharing it with. There’s not really much more to it than that, but the word itself has come a long way.
The word ‘cheers’ comes from the Latin ‘cara’, which means head or face. Cara evolved into ‘cheir’ in French and ‘cheer’ in good old English. Originally, the word was about emotions that could be read on the face – from melancholy to joyful and anything in between. Eventually, though, it became about happiness, and saying cheers was just a way to say ‘Hey – I hope you’re in good cheer and feeling fine.’ Or something like that.
At some point (it’s hard to pinpoint when, exactly), saying cheers became part of the ritual of toasting – something cultures have likely been doing since the first alcohol was accidentally fermented back in prehistory. Toasting is done for all sorts of reasons – offering respect to the departed, wishing each other health or long life, to appease the gods, or just to be friendly and respectful. Saying cheers with a drink is just one form of toasting, and it’s usually more of a casual, friendly-style toast these days.
The ritual of cheers-ing as a toast isn’t set in stone, either. Sometimes we raise a glass and say cheers; other times, we clink our glasses together and say the magic word. That clinking is said to be a holdover from medieval times when both clinkers would pour a little from their glass into the other’s as a sign of goodwill and that no poisoning was about to happen. That’s probably not true, as it turns out, but it’s a good story.
There’s also the tradition of clinking glasses and saying cheers while making eye contact with the other. If you don’t (so the tale goes), you’ll both be beset by bad luck of some kind. Seven years of bad sex is one of the rumours, and honestly, it’s best not to take the risk.
We’re not here to overcomplicate things, but there are a couple of tips to remember when clinking glasses to cheers with friends. When you’re doing this with beer glasses, it’s safe to say there’s not too much risk involved – aside from maybe sloshing a little beer over the sides. Try not to do that. The same goes for cocktails. But when clinking wine glasses, which are often much more fragile, it can help to get the angle right.
The best bet is to slightly tilt your glasses and knock the bells, or the widest part, together, which should also make a pretty satisfying sound. Go in too high, and with too much enthusiasm, and there’s a good chance someone’s ending up with a cracked glass.
Many non-English speaking countries have their own equivalent words and traditions. Here are some alternatives from around the world, but remember that these are almost always used solely in a drinking and toasting context. Don’t start signing off emails with ‘prost’ – your German mates might get a little concerned.
Prost: It rhymes with toast, and it’s what you’ll say when drinking in Austria and Germany.
Salud/saúde/santé: These Spanish, Portuguese and French equivalents of cheers, respectively, are all variations on the word ‘health’ – as in, toasting to good health.
Cin cin: When in Italy, raise those Aperol Spritzes high and throw out a hearty ‘cin cin’ (pronounced ‘chin chin’) to your pals. ‘Salute’ is the formal equivalent, in case you’re hosting a posh Italian do.
Kanpai: The Japanese have a bit of a ritual around their version of the word cheers. Say ‘kanpai’ before taking your first sip but, in the company of superiors or seniors, wait for them to drink first.
