Life in Spain comes with plenty of get-togethers and celebrations, and although alcoholic excesses are not generally part of the Spanish culture, booze will be a part of almost all social occurrences.
If you’re a foreigner who’s made Spain their new home, it’s therefore important to familiarise yourself with the language and idiosyncrasies that are part of such occasions.
Let’s start with the word for a toast, in the sense of honouring someone or something with a drink.
The noun for this is a toastwhich apparently originally comes from the German ‘bring dirs’, meaning ‘bring thee’ (as in, I’ll ‘bring thee’ a drink, a speech, etc.). There’s also the verb toastwhich means to toast.
So if you want to give a toast in Spanish, you should start off by saying me I’d like to propose a toast to… or I would like to toast… (I’d like to make a toast for) and once you’ve finished your speech you should raise your glass and for example say For the boyfriends! (for the newlyweds) or By John! (for Juan!).
When it comes to clinking the glasses, Spaniards will often use the interjection chin Chinan onomatopoeia which pays heed to the sound, but it’s really the same as saying cheers.
The most common word used in Spanish to say cheers is Health!which means ‘health’, in the same way as the French say health and the Germans health. Spaniards may also direct their toast specifically at the person they’re drinking with by saying To your health! (To your health!).
You may be happy to learn that Spaniards don’t take the custom of looking into the other person’s eyes while clinking glasses or drinking quite so seriously as in other European countries, where the failure to do so carries the penalty of seven years of bad sex (ouch!).
A quick glance at the person you’re cheering with will go down well, however, as direct eye contact is the standard in social situations in Spain.
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What is considered to bring bad luck in the bedroom is toasting with a non-alcoholic drink in Spain, so consider yourself warned.
Catalans have an interesting version of the Spanish cheers – ¡health and strength to the canut! – which translates to ‘Cheers and strength to the purse’ in order to wish health and wealth, although some people wrongly assume it’s meant to wish people good virility.
While we’re on the subject, there is a very common cheering expression used in Spanish to do with rumpy pumpy.
After cheering, whether by raising a glass or clicking glasses, many Spaniards will then take their glass and quickly place it down on the table before lifting it again to take a swig.
Bemused foreigners will then be reminded that he who does not support, does not fuck‘the one who doesn’t place it (the glass) down, doesn’t have sex’.
Does it make it any sense? Nope, but it does get a few laughs, and before long you’ll find yourself quickly tapping the base of your drink against the table through force of habit.
Another interesting habit that foreigners in Spain tend to find amusing is when a group of friends in a circle move their glasses in four different directions whilst saying Up, down, to the center and inside!which means ‘up, down, to the centre and inside’, the latter being when you drink.
So there you have it, Health to everyone! (Cheers to everyone!)
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