When you make a toast in Italy you definitely have to look the person you are clinking glasses with in the eye, otherwise the toast won’t be a lucky one. As for your toast, you can choose between two classical exclamations: “cin cin” or “salute”. Sometimes, especially when celebrating someone’s birthday, you can even say “cento di questi giorni” which literally means “a hundred of such days”, implying the fact that you’re wishing the person you’re toasting to to enjoy a hundred of days, as happy as the one you’re celebrating together right now.
If you’re toasting to someone in particular you can say “alla tua” – omitting the word “salute” –, if that someone is just one person, “alla vostra” (plural you), if it’s more than one person, or “alla nostra” if you’re including yourself in the toast.
Vocabulary:
- brindisi / toast
- fare un brindisi / to make a toast
- brindare / to make a toast
- bicchiere / glass
Examples:
- Facciamo un brindisi / Let’s make a toast
- Avanti, brindiamo alla salute di Anna / Come on, let’s drink Anna’s health
Cin cin is pronounced “cheen cheen” and you can found it written in three different ways:
- As two words (“cin cin”) – the most common spelling;
- as a single word (“cincin”);
- or as a hyphenated word (“cin-cin”).
It comes from the Chinese polite phrase “ch’ing ch’ing”, meaning “please please”. It was imported in Europe by European sailors and merchants, and strangely enough also featured in the Edwardian musical comedy The Geisha, a story of a tea house, composed by Sidney Jones with lyrics by Harry Greenbank, which opened in London in 1896. In Italian it was adopted as a form of toast probably because the sound of it resembles the clink of two glasses touching each other before drinking.
The Italian word salute translates in English as “health” – “welfare” when referring to the public well-being of a country. It’s a feminine noun, used only in the singular.
It’s frequently used in exclamations, especially when you’re toasting or addressing someone who has just sneezed.
Examples:
- Se starnutisco, devi dirmi: “salute!” / If I sneeze, you have to tell me: “Bless you!”
- Leviamo i calici tutti insieme. Salute! / Let’s raise our cups all together. Cheers!
