It is important, in whatever country or company you may be in, to toast appropriately. Study these and learn them, for they will serve you well one day as you down that chang in the Sherpa tent or hang with the locals at a Scottish pub. If you can offer a drink and toast a person in his/her own language, you've made a friend! If you can sing the local songs after tossing a few, you'll doubtless be buddies for life.

Standard Toasts in Various Languages

Dutch: Proost! Op je gezondheid!

English: Cheers!

English: Bottoms up!

French: À votre santé (French Toast is also available at IHOP)

(French Toast is also available at IHOP) German: Prost!

German: "Hopfen und Malz, Gott erhalt's!" (Long live hops and malt!)

Greek: Ade yamas!

Hebrew: L'chaim!

Irish: Slainte!

Italian: Cin Cin!

Japanese: Kanpai!

Korean: Guhn-Bae!

Mandarin: Ganbei!

Maori: Kia Ora!

Norwegian: Skoll!

Polish: Na Zdrowie!

Russian: Za vashe zdorov'ye!

Spanish: Salud!

Swedish: Skål!

Turkish: Sherefe!

Hungarian: Egesegedre! (Egg-esh-sheg-edra)

Toasting Etiquette

Western Europeans from the Netherlands to Bulgaria seem to have a thing about making eye contact when toasting they apparently find Americans fairly vulgar for not doing so, among myriad other reasons.

The first toast should be made by the host.

The person receiving the toast should remain seated and should not drink to the toast.

When a guest of honor is being toasted, they stand when the toast is finished and thank the one who gave the toast.

German rules: It is good toasting style to clink the glass of every single person at the table; however, have eye contact while toasting, else it means bad luck. If two people are toasting, do not toast across them to another person (so that the line of your arm and the other persons' arms would form a cross), because that also means bad luck and is considered rude. And most importantly: Do not, under any circumstances, fill up your (or any other) glass if it is not completely empty yet! If you do so, that means seven years of really bad sex! (Although some people fill up the non-empty glasses anyhow, figuring that seven years of bad sex is better than no sex at all)

Clean but Amusing Toasts

"Arriba, abajo, al centro y adentro!"

"As you slide down the banister of life, may the splinters never face the wrong way."

"Champagne for real friends, and real pain for sham friends!" — DanFisher (my grandfather's favorite toast)

"Cheers to you and cheers to me, the best of friends we'll always be. But just in case we disagree, to Hell with you and cheers to me"

"Everybody should believe in something — I believe I'll have another drink."

"May the grass on your road to hell grow long for lack of use."

"Give strong drink unto him that is ready to perish, and wine unto those that be of heavy hearts. Let him drink, and forget his poverty, and remember his misery no more." (Proverbs 31:6-7)

"Here's to the old lady up the hill. If she won't drink it, I will!" - Irish blessing

"Here's to those who wish us well, all the rest can go to hell."

"Here's to you as good as you are; And here's to me as bad as I am; But as good as you are; And as bad as I am; I'm as good as you are — as bad as I am." — ss's Poppa

"In heaven there is no beer that's why we drink ours here."

"May for better or worse be far better than worse."

"May misfortune follow you the rest of your life, but never catch up."

"May our house always be too small to hold all our friends."

"May the people who dance on your grave get cramps in their legs." —from the book, The Joys of Yiddish

"May we never have friends who, like shadows, follow us in sunshine only to desert us on a cloudy day."

"May you live all the days of your life." —Jonathan Swift

"To more friends and less need of them."

"To the head-brewer — may his wort never clear up!"

"We'll think of all the friends we know and drink to all worth drinking to."

Downright Nasty Ones in Any Language

"May you always come more than you go."

"May your love be a thousand miles long but come in six inch installments."

"Here's to birthdays... they come only once a year! Aren't you glad you're not a birthday??"

"Here's to the top, And here's to the middle. Let's hope tonight we all get a little."

"I want to thank you all for coming, especially my parents, (X) years ago."

"Here's to heat! Not the kind that ignites and burns down shanties, but the kind that excites and slides down panties!"

"Here's to you, here's to me, together as friends we'll always be. And if we ever disagree, F—k you, here's to me."

"May your beer always be dry and your women always moist."

"Here's to honor (on her). To getting honor, keeping honor, and not getting off her 'til you get off honor." "Here's to honor — cause if you can't come in her, come on her!" (maybe a little more vulgar, but flows much better.) "Here's to honor — get on 'er, stay on 'er, and if you can't come in 'er, come on 'er" (the way I've always heard it)

"Here's to those we love the best, we love them best when they're undressed. We love them sitting, standing, lying; if they had wings we'd love them flying. And when they're dead, buried, forgotten- we'll dig them up and fuck them rotting!"

"Here's to the lady in the white shoes: she'll steal all your money, she'll drink all your booze. She ain't got a cherry, but that ain't no sin, 'cuz she's still got the box that the cherry came in!"

"I've drank from the cup of life: from the rim, to the brim, to the dregs... but all I ever wanted to taste is what's in-between your legs."

Toastmasters International

Toastmasters is an international social club dedicated to making toasts and helping people improve their public speaking skills. There are local chapters in Sacramento, Vacaville, and even Davis! Anyone know if it is still active?