Why cheers before drinking

It was both a Greek and Roman tradition to leave an offering to the gods, including alcoholic beverages, when they had big banquets. This was most commonly done when there was a feast following the death of a person. It is believed this custom evolved into a toast to the health of the living.

Of course like any history there are a multitude of myths and tales that go with it. Our favourite is that the real reason people clink their glasses together before drinking is to ensure the drink is safe, because the liquid will slosh over the side of the cup, mixing all of the drinks.

Excess alcohol consumption was often, rather than an inadvertent drinking-party by-product, a deliberate aim. Early medieval Anglo-Saxon bashes featured round-bottomed drinking glasses, designed to be emptied, since they could not be set down.

Guests drained their cups and then turned them upside-down on the table. Such cups were called tumblers; now, in a quirky historical turn-around, tumbler is a synonym for a drinking glass with a flat un-tippable bottom. In the 18th century, the rowdy Prince Regent later King George IV instituted the practice of snapping the stems off wine glasses at parties, to ensure that his guests always drank the whole thing. Among them just may have been James Bond, whose steady consumption of martinis shaken, not stirred —according to a study by Graham Johnson and colleagues in the British Medical Journal — should by all rights have put him in serious trouble.

The now-respectable custom of the toast was once an exercise in aggressively competitive drinking. Sometimes toasting was a duty—in the first century BCE, the Roman Senate decreed that the health of the Emperor Augustus be drunk at every meal—though more often it smacked of a drinking game. According to Geoffrey of Monmouth in his 12th-century History of the Kings of Britain , the first recorded toast in England took place in CE, at a feast given in honor of British King Vortigern by Hengist, leader of his Saxon allies.

Vortigern, swept off his feet, promptly proposed marriage. The holiday wassail bowl takes its name from the Saxon waes hael toast; traditionally this was a large single bowl from which everyone shared a drink.

Related is the tradition of the loving cup, in which a large two-handled cup is passed from diner to diner, with each in turn taking a drink. Traditionally guests stand up three at a time as their turn arrives: one person to pass the cup, one to drink, and one to defend the temporarily defenseless drinker. Toasting in previous centuries, though governed by a complex hierarchical etiquette of who could toast whom and when, was largely an excuse for excessive drinking.

At get-togethers, bumpers—bulging full glasses—of wine were raised to the king, to each and every guest, and to lists of absent friends. For many, it was too much. The first temperance society, the Order of Temperance, established in Germany in , was dedicated to abolishing toasts. Others, in lieu of eliminating toasts altogether, opted for refurbishing their tarnished image.

One of the earliest pro books on toasting, published by J. Americans have a special tie to toasting. The melody soon became so popular that it was co-opted for any number of popular songs. All rights reserved. No one knows exactly when alcohol first entered the human diet—chances are it was a serendipitous prehistoric stumble on fermented fruit—but clearly we took to it like ducks to water.

Ancient Drinking Parties The drinking party, in one form or another, has been around for thousands of years—and from its inception, has had the potential to spiral wildly out of control. A Toast to Toasting Sometimes toasting was a duty—in the first century BCE, the Roman Senate decreed that the health of the Emperor Augustus be drunk at every meal—though more often it smacked of a drinking game.

The Anti-Toast Movement For many, it was too much. English examples include st street , ct circuit and mr mister. Another interesting Latin abbreviation, used in medicine and written on prescriptions, is "pc" which means "post-culinare", or "after a meal".

What is the origin of clinking glasses before drinking alcohol with another? Please try again later. The Sydney Morning Herald. July 10, — Save Log in , register or subscribe to save articles for later. Normal text size Larger text size Very large text size. Inge Terkildsen, Randwick. Clinking crystal glasses together enables all five senses to be satisfied with fine wine. Touch: good wine is drunk from fine glassware.