Bottoms Up!
A few notes on the surprisingly wide variety of drinking customs and toasts around the world.
By Terri Morrison
© Copyright 2004, All Rights Reserved
Invocations over drinks are customary wherever alcohol is consumed. The English word for this custom, "toasting," derived from the tradition of dipping a piece of scorched bread into a tankard of beer or wine, to improve the taste of the drink. Different countries offer some interesting variations on toasting habits.
We can be thankful that modern Swedes don't drink like their Viking ancestors. The traditional toast is skäl, which literally means "drinking vessel" and is derived from the word for skull. Early Scandinavians often used a human skull as a drinking cup! A hundred years ago, toasting was a complex business. Today, all the old formalities have been dispensed with, except one: be sure always to look the person you are toasting in the eye!
Many Russians are convinced of their ability to drink foreigners under the table. Traditionally, a bottle of vodka is placed on a table, and the drinking is not finished until the bottle is empty! The most common toast is za vashe zdorovye ("To health"). A more political toast, often used by officials, is Mir i druzhba ("Peace and friendship").
The Chinese typically offer toasts with maotai, a sorghum-based liquor. It is drunk out of thimble-sized glasses. If you don't want to drink, turn your glass upside down, but explain that your doctor does not allow you to drink. Nevertheless, even if they are drinking a nonalcoholic beverage, everyone at a table is expected to join in a general toast. There are several toasts in Chinese. Gan bei ("Dry your cup!") is the most popular in Mandarin, while Yam sing (also "Dry your cup!") or Yahm pai are popular in Cantonese.
The Japanese view drinking as an important way to unwind from the stresses of business. No one pours a drink for him- or herself; someone else at the table fills your glass. When joined by a foreigner, the drinking evening becomes an extension of the business day. The standard toasts are kanpai ("Dry cup!") or banzai ("May you live a thousand years").
There is no universally accepted protocol for toasting in the U.S.A. However, glasses are often raised in honor of a specific individual or thing, such as "Here's to Bob, the top salesman of the year!" Otherwise, the standard toast is usually "Cheers!"
Reprinted from SwissAir Gazette, October 1997
|