Around the world, the most common drinking toast is to good health. There are, however, a few more specific ways of raising a glass:
âTo good healthâ itself has many variants. In Slovenian, itâs na zdravje; in Spanish, salud; in Hungarian, egészségedre; and in Flemish, gezondheid.
The Scandinavian toast skÃ¥l (pronounced skoal) has a more macabre background: It originally meant âskull.â
The word is alleged to have come from a custom practiced by the warlike Vikings, who used the dried-out skulls of their enemies as drinking mugs, with the evident advantage that the vessel could hold a large quantity of mead and was easily replaceable.Â
The Ukrainians, however, take toasts to another level. They say budmo! Thatâs not just to good health for some undetermined period of time, but for eternity. As translated, it means: âLet us live forever!â
Illustrations by David Doran.