The story behind "Cheers"

Credit: ramweb

The ubiquitous custom of raising a toast or saying "cheers" seems to be as old as the history itself. Few days back i was having a heartfelt conversation with one of my good friend, and it popped in my head to write about the story behind "Cheers". The best thing is that it is way more interesting than it may sound.

Many old tales suggest that the clinking of glasses or saying cheers after pouring your drink is a customary tradition to prevent oneself from a conspired death. If someone adds poison in the drink, so on raising a toast, the drink may spill out from one glass to another and hence the person who conspired against you may himself consume the poison and eventually die. So conspirators may restrain themselves from doing this sin.
Sounds legit, isn't it?
But sadly there are no evidences to support this story, so in the absence of light, we leave this story as a myth.

So i kept my research on, and found that the real origin of this tradition of "cheers" is the Ancient Greek. They have a ritual of offering libation to the Greek Gods. From this point of time, we drink to each other's health. To back this conjecture, you can read the book "The Odyssey" where Ulysses drinks to the health of Achilles. Even once the Roman Senate passed a decree stating that every citizen must drink to Emperor Augustus at every meal.


But there is more to it. You would be surprised to know what's more intriguing: the term "toast" itself. The origin of this term dates back to the early sixteenth century. This was the time when toasts(bread) were literally soaked in the drinks before consumption. It was believed that drinks were adulterated and dipping a piece of toast into it will soak up all the acidity and improve the flavour of the drink. While this will have a second benefit too, it will make the bread palatable. The very first account of this story can be found in the Shakespeare's "The Merry Wives of Windsor" where the character of Falstaff demands- "Go fetch me a quart of sack; put a toast in't."

What i am going to tell you next may sound silly. In the 17th and 18th century "toasting" became an etiquette and "toastmasters" came into existence. They are kind of a third party referee who ensure that it didn't become too excessive and everyone got their fair share of toasting. I may sound funny, but it was a much desperately needed role then.

And slowly we landed on many drinking games and practices. The most bizarre ones being the one where a man would stab his arm, add his blood in the drink, and gulp it down to prove his love and devotion to his lady. While there is another story which involves toasting to a lady's beauty by drinking from her shoe. Seriously that's gross.

None of these practices are entertained today, what a relief, isn't it?
Today toasting or saying "cheers" has become more of a civilised, restrained and intellectual pursuit.

So next time when you drink among your friends or family, don't forget to "cheers" to their well being and share this story over a glass of wine.