How to say cheers / slainte in different countries


 

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Slainte/cheers in different languages / countries

Salute, Skål, Cheers and Slainte..
If you are out on travel, journey, holiday etc. and are drinking a great whisky , you may want to say cheers to the locals.
Here is a guide to you on how to say cheers in different countries.
Country Remark / explanation
A
Africa

Kenya - hey is Jambo
Kikuyu (Kenya) Rathima andu atene
South African : There are 11 official languages English - cheers Afrikaans - Gesondheid and try the word Amandla for the other 9

Other African just : cheers

cheers in afrikaans is gesondheid and amandla for the other 9. Gesondheid is correct for afrikaans, but amandla means power to the people - it has nothing to do with saying cheers. 

Agentina (Spanish - Latin American)
Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
America Cheers
Wisconsin that has very strong German roots and everyone toasts, almost without fail; "Prost"
Albanian Gëzuar / Gezuar
or Shëndeti tuaj
Arabic Fisehatak (to your health) / Shucram (United Arab Emirates)
Armenian

Genatzt (or Genatset / Genatsoot ("Life"))

Կենացը

Asturian Gayola
Austrian / Austria

Prosit - Prost (German) / Zum Wohl

Get a dog up ya! (An australian expression which really doesn't mean anything much at all. Often said whilst being drunk and yelled at high volume at the footy.)

Azerbaijani
Azerbajansk

Afiyæt oslun

alqış

AWA AWA !!! klinke klanke glasset i bordet gentagne gange ...
et AWA i en sætning udløser en skål.
Australia

Cheers ? (Cherio)

'Bottoms up' has a term used to say cheers in Australia

'cheers' and 'bottoms up' are used frequently to toast, cheers being by far more
common. expressions such as 'to your health' 'to us' 'to ' etc are
all used frequently also.

 

Country Remark / explanation
B
Bahasa (Indonesia) Pro
Baluchi (Iran) Vashi
Basiksk Cheers or ?
Basque On egin
Topa
Belgian / Belgium 'Op uw gezondheid' is fine for the Flemish (Dutch speaking) part of the country but for the other half, the French speaking people, it's the same as for France 'A VOTRE SANTE', although there are of course many other expressions.
Thanx to Patricia WRIGHT (Belgium / French)
Belize (English)?
Bengali

Joy

চিয়ার্স

Bolivia (Spanish - Latin America)
Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
Bosnian Zivjeli
Brazilian Saude, Viva
(Spain, France) Topa
Breton Yec'hed mat
Brunei Darussalam (Malay)?
Bulgarian

Na zdrave (to your health)
(Nazdrave ?)

наздраве

 

Country Remark / explanation
C
Canada

Cheers
Another toast in Canada is "Chimo" 

Cape Verde You can say "salud" or "ching-ching" there for cheers
Caribbean ?
Catalan (Spain) (Spanish)? Salut
Txin txin
Sant Hilari, Sant Hilari, fill de puta qui no se l'acabi
("Son of a bitch the one that does not finish the cup", vulgar)
Chile (Spanish - Latin American)
Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
Chinese Nien Nien nu e. Kong Chien
Chinese Yung sing ("drink and win")
(Cantonese) Gom bui ("dry the cup")
Chinese Gan bei ("dry the cup")
Mandarin : Gan bei
or Kong chien.
Colombia (Spanish - Latin American)
Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
Cornish Yeghes da
Costa Rica "Pura Vida" (pure life) which they use for everything.
Thanks to : Dale Leatherman
(See also : Spanish - Latin American : Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo)
Creole Salud
Croatian Zivjeli (write a small v above the Z)
Zivjeli / U zdravlje
Czech Na zdraví (to your health)
Czechoslovakian Na Zdravi, Nazdar

Country Remark / explanation
D
Denmark / Danish / Dansk Skaal / Skål
Bunden i vejret eller resten i håret (Bottoms up or the rest in your hair.)
Dominican Republic (Spanish - Latin American)
Dutch
(Netherlands)
(Belgium)
Proost. Proost, Geluk, or Gezondheid
Dutch (Flemish) Proost
Gezondheid (to your health)
In pure dutch (netherlands) you should say, 'gezondheid' but more common is 'proost'. Any othter expresion in any language can be and will be used. As long as we can drink it will be OK.

Country Remark / explanation
E
Egyptian Fee sihetak
Bisochtak
Esperanto Sanon
El Salvador (Spanish - Latin American)?
English Cheers Cheerio (UK) - Lets toast
Here's mud in your eye (UK, vulgar)(expr. may be from Bible, John 9:1-41)
Bottoms up (USA)
Down the hatch (vulgar)
Hey howdy (Arizona, informal)
Esperanto Je via sano (to your health) (constructed) Toston ("(I propose) a toast")
Estonian Tervist
(Teie) terviseks (to your health)
(Teie terviseks)
Ethiopia they says T'chen chen
Equador (Spanish - Latin American)

Country Remark / explanation
F
Farsi Ba'sal'a'ma'ti
Faroese / Faeroese
Skál
Fiji Islands

They simply say BULA! to everything, including hello, cheers and thank you. (Ulrika/Ireland)

It Means : Good Health, Long Live. (Thanks to Ross from Fiji)

Finnish (Suomi)
Finland
"Kippis" is indeed a good translation for "cheers", being very informal. "Maljanne" translates approximately as "A toast to you [Sir]", the polite form of address being implied by the suffix "nne". One might also say "n malja!", meaning "A toast to !". To say that these forms are never used in Finland is simply incorrect; their place is at a formal dinner party, for example. "Pohjanmaan kautta" might possibly be derived from a historical event: literally translated it means "By way of Ostrobothnia", and Ostrobothnia is precisely the way by which Finnish Jäger troops of the Royal Prussian 27th Jäger Battalion came back from training in Germany, to contribute to the victory of the "whites" in the Finnish Civil War. On the other hand, it might simply be derived from the fact that "Pohja" literally means bottom, therefore "Pohjanmaan kautta" means "bottoms up". Also, while "terveydeksi" does mean "to your health", it is to my knowledge used exclusively when someone sneezes, like gesundheit or bless you. It might, however, appear as part of a more elaborate toast.
Thank you to : Ilkka Poutanen
Kippis. Maljanne
Kippis is the most common way to say cheers but "maljanne" is very rear. It is very polite way to say your toast. That is never used in Finland.
There is also "Hölkyn kölkyn". It doesn't mean anything but it sounds funny. That is used when you want to be funny or if you want to make foreign tourists to laugh.
"Pohjanmaan kautta" means bottoms up. Pohjanmaa is a large area in the north west Finland. "Pohjanmaan kautta" is widely used E.g when you drink vodka.
Thank you to Juha Nieminen
Kippis Terveydeksi (formal) (to your health)
French / France A votre sante
(À votre) santé (to your health) À la votre (response "And to yours")
À votre santé / Santé
Frisian Tsjoch (Netherlands)

Country Remark / explanation
G
Gaelic (Ireland) Sláinte (to your health)
Gaelic (Scotland) Slaandjivaa (to your health) Slainte mhoiz
Slainte Mhor (Slainte vor) / Slainte Mhath
Galician (Spain) Saúde / Chinchín / Saúde
Georgian Vielen danke zu Dr.Wilram Tiemann :

Der Georgier sagt: "vakhtanguri", wir sagen "prost", der Engländer "cheers" und der Däne "ska&ål". Dies ist nicht richtig. Der Georgier sagt zu einer Gruppe vonm Menschen: "Gaumardschoss". Dies bedeutet: "man möge siegen". Zu einer Einzelperson sagt der Georgier: "Gagimardschoss", das soviel wie "du mögest siegen" bedeutet. Also in kartuli ena (=georgischer Sprache) heißt "prost": Gaumardschoss. Michail Saakaschwili oder Aduard Schewardnadse würden nie: "vakhtaanguri" sagen . "vakhtanguri" sagen nur die im Landesteil Gurian lebenden Menschen. Diese haben auch einen eigenen Dialekt. Guria liegt im Südwesten von Georgien. Woher ich das alles weiß? Meinen Freund, ein deutscher Offizier, der mehrere Jahre dort leben mußte, wollte ich mit dem Wort " vakhtanguri" überraschen. Dann wurde ich aufgeklärt. Mit freundlichen Grüßen und "prost" oder besser "ska°l". Ihr Dr.Wilram Tiemann

Most common : Gagimardschoss / Gaumardschoss Only in some parts of Georgien (Vakhtanguri)
 
German (Germany)

Prost (beer)
Zum Wohl (wine) (to your health)
Hau weg den Scheiss (vulgar)
I would pretty much prefer the first (common) one as the second one is never used at all. You should remove it. 'Gruss Got' is used to welcome a person but not at all in the sense of 'cheers'.

From Stefan Brede
In Germany we have different ways to say "Cheers" or "Slainte", depending on the kind of drink as well as on the occasion. For BEER: "Prost!" (no matter at which occasion). For WINE: "Prost" with friends, "Zum Wohl" in a more formal environment. For COCKTAILS: Here we often use a toast, for example: "Auf uns!" (To us!) or "Auf Dich!" (To you!). For SCHNAPS: Here we often say something like "Und weg!" or "Hau' weg das Zeug!" (Down the hatch!), but "Prost!" is fine as well. For WHISKY: We never say "Prost!" with Whisky. Rather, we use "Cheers!" or a toast, like "Auf Schottland!" (To Scotland!).

Old info : Prosit. Auf ihr wohl - Gruß got. - Prost ?

A common Dutch way to say cheers. In some student associations we use "goedemorgen" (litteraly: good morning) or simply "morgen". Many
stories surround the tradition, but a common one is that it is orriginated as a
greeting to normal working people in the early morning, while the students were
still having a drink.

Greek Eis Igian
Stin ijiasas
Jamas
Gia'sou
Greenlandic Kassutta ("Let our glasses meet")
Imeqatigiitta ("Let's drink together")
Kasugta
Guatemala (Spanish - Latin American)?
Guyana In Guyana, as well as Trinidad, the people speak english. So Cheers is the same in both those countries

Country Remark / explanation
H
Hawaiian Okole maluna
Okole malune
Hipahipa
Hebrew L'chaim ("To life")
(Le'chaim)
Hindi Apki Lambi Umar Ke Liye
Holooe Kam-poe
Honduras (Spanish - Latin American)?
Hungarian Kedves egeszsegere
Egészségedre (sing.) (to your health)
Egészségetekre (plur.) (to your health)

Country Remark / explanation
I
Icelandic Skál (Santanka nu)
Ido Ye vua saneso
Indian

From Sam (Punjabi).. we usually say "chak dey" ..(very informal) translated means bottoms up...

Some said "A la sature"

-

Hey, in my 26 years of being in India, I have never heard the expression "A la sature"!
There was a foreigner who was once at our table (of all Indians), and he raised his glass and said, "A la sature".

The rest of us just stared at him with a blank expression. He was embarassed, and he said he'd learnt it from this site.
I think you should remove it from here, as it is misleading.
After long years of British occupation, simply saying "Cheers" is the norm here.

Indonesia Pro ( They sometimes say tos (sounds like "toss" back that drink))
Interlingua A vostre sanitate (to your health)
(constructed) A vostre salute
Ireland Sláinte (to your health)
In Northern Ireland (Ulster) there are three main offical languages : English,Irish and Ulster-Scots
Cheers in Northern Ireland (Ulster) is Slainte! (to your health) in Irish AND "Guid forder!" (good luck) in Ulster-Scots.
Thanx to Paul for information
Irish Gaelic (Sláinte)
Israel L'Chaim! (To Life!)
Italian / Italy Cin cin (formal)
Salute (informal)
Back to the top

 

Country Remark / explanation
J
Japan / Nippon Kampai / Campai

Japanese / Japan

Japansk

Nippon

Nihon

Kampai. Banzai
Japanese most used : Kampai

  1. navneord
    1. 喝采
  2. udråbsord
    1. 乾杯
    2. 万歳
    3. 万才

 

Jamaica ?
Back to the top

 

Country Remark / explanation
K
Kikuyu (Kenya)

Rathima andu atene

cheers in kisuaheli for east africa
Kenya,Uganda ,Tansania..:
maisha marefu...(long life)

Korean Chukbae
Kong gang ul wi ha yo
Konbe
Back to the top

 

Country Remark / explanation
L
Latin Sanitas bona (to your health)
Bene tibi
Latin American spanish : Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
Latvian Uz veselibu (Prieka)
Lebanese Kesak (sing.)
Keskun (plur.)
Liechtenstein

In Liechtenstein you can use "Prosch" or "Zum Wohl"


Thanks to, Yvonne

Lithuanian i sveikata (Not : I sueikata / Thank you Paulius)
Lithuanian buk sveikas (Not: I sveikas / Thanks to Paulius)
Luxembourg in luxembugish for cheers you say Prost or Gesondheet

 


 

Country Remark / explanation
M
Macedonian

Na zdravje! (to your health). (Thanks to Natasha)

The non existed "Macedonian" language. Macedonia is a region in the
Southeastern Europe that is devided in four countries: 70% Greek, 19% Yugoslavian,
10% Bulgarian and 1% Albanian. So Cheers in th Greek part is :"Yia
sou".In the Bulgarian and the Former Yugoslavian part is
"Nazdravia" and in the Albanian part is both of them because it is
inhabitted by Greeks and Slavs and of course the official Albanian
"Gezuar". (Thanks to Dimitrios Petkos / Greece)

Malay

(Brunei Darussalam)?
Malaysia In Malaysia the language is "Bahasa Melayu" (meaning "malay language"). As "Basaha Malaysia" it has been brought in line with Indonesian and the two are very similar now.
Experience from the Eastern Malaysia in Sarawak, Borneo where for a toast they would simply say "Minum!". Which means "drink!". Simple but effective.
Maltese

Sahha (Cheers)
Aviva (old fashioned  - not used). Cheers is sahha which also means to
your health. I spent a year there and never heard anyone say aviva but sahha was
quite common

Thanx to Julie Anne Meaney :

Maori

Kia Ora is a Maori greeting, the equivalent of 'Hello'
In general New Zealanders tend to emulate the Australians, they say 'Cheers' too. (See New Zealand as well for further information)
They do not have a way of saying cheers in Maori. For more information look at New Zealand.

(From Quinn /Auckland) 

Myself as well as other Maoris here say : Chur or chur bro when saying cheers or thank you :D

Mexican / Mexico Salud (Spanish - Latin American)
Monaco (French)?
Moroccan / Marokko Saha wa'afiab

 

Country Remark / explanation
N
Netherland See Dutch
 Nepal There really isn't a word or phrase.  One could exclaim "La!" which is sort of
a general exclamation sound made upon or just after an event.  Drinking any sort of
alcoholic beverage or toasts not really a part of traditional Nepalese culture,
though they are adopting many Western customs 
New Zealand

Kia Ora is a Maori greeting, the equivalent of 'Hello'
In general New Zealanders tend to emulate the Australians, they say 'Cheers' too.
'Cheerio' generally means 'Goodbye'
Thanx to Graeme Buckley
As a kiwi I just wanted to add to your section on how to toast New Zealand style. Kia Ora is a greeting as you say but means a little more than hello - it means 'good health' and is used in many contexts. Also while we do say cheers this is derives from our mostly English heritage rather than being an 'emulation' of Australians. To say the latter is actually a teeny bit insulting!
Thank you to Wendy

As far as the greeting kia ora is concerned this is merely a maori way of saying hello which is not used at all by other cultures and in no way a form of saying "cheers". the maoris
have no way of saying cheers apart from the occassional "cheer bro" spoken
in broken english. in new zealand we say cheers the same as every other english
country. (Thanks to Jerrard from Auckland/New Zealand.)

Nicaragua

(Spanish - Latin American)
Norwegian (Nynorsk) Skal
Skål

 

Country Remark / explanation
O
Occitan A la vòstra

 

Country Remark / explanation
P
Pakistani Sanda bashi
Panama (Spanish - Latin American)
Paraguay (Spanish - Latin American)
Persian (Iran) (Be) salam ati (to your health) Nush ("Enjoy it, and let it be part of your body")
Paru (Spanish - Latin American)
Philippines Mabuhay
Polish Na zdrowie. Vivat
Na zdrowie (to your health)
Portuguese

"Saúde" or
"A sua saúde!" The latter means to your health. The former, meaning simply "health",
is what everyone who is raisng a glass (or simply saying it) is wishing everyone
else.

(A sia saide ?) Brazil (Portuguese)

Portuguese Saude (to your health)
Tchim-tchim
Saúde (Brazil)(to your health)
Tim-tim (Brazil)
Puerto Rico (Spanish - Latin American)

 

Country Remark / explanation
Q
Quatar Hmmm alcohol is not alowed here..

 

Country Remark / explanation
R
Rhaeto-Romanic Viva
Romanian Noroc ("Good luck")
Russian (CCCP)

No one says "Na zdorovje" as a Russian drinking cheer.

No one believe's in what said in Russia anymore. (2022)
This is increadibly widespread myth. It does mean "To you health", but they only sayy it as a reply to "Spasibo"
i.e. "Thank you".
Furthermore, there is no universal drinking cheer in Russian, however paradoxal it might sound.
Sometimes they say "Budem zdorovy" meaning "Let's stay healthy". Which sometimes is shortened to just "Budem" (see Ukranian version).
or "Chtob vse byli zdorovy", i.e. "Let everybody be healthy". Thanks to Dmitry

Old index: Na zdorovje (to your health), Vashe zdorovie or Na zdorovia (Not used !)

Some say several Russians who say Na zdorovje as a toast, including a former KGB agent.

 

Country Remark / explanation
S
Sesotho Nqa
Scotland Slainte
or Slainte Mhor (even more)
Toast ir Cheers in Scotland is Slainte Mhath! (Good Health). The response is Slainte Mhor! (Great Health).
Scottish

Slainte. Here's tae ye

A great Scottish toasts goes as follows - "Here's te us, was' like us, damn
few and their all deed"

Basically translated - Here's to us, those that were like us, there's damn few of
them and those that there are, are all dead.

It's great to recite with a friend, one person would start raising a drink - "Here's
te us..." and the friend would reply "was' like us" the first person would complete
- "damn few and their all deed"

Serbian Zivio Ziveli - In Serbian, cheers is 'Ziveli', pronounced 'zjee-ve-lee', meaning 'Let's live long!'
(Old : Zivjeli / U zdravlje)
Slovak
(Slovakia)
Na zdravie (to your health) / Stolicka! [stolitschka]
Slovenian Na zdravje (to your health)
Somalian Auguryo
South African (Afrikaans) There are 11 official languages English - cheers Afrikaans - Gesondheid and try the word Amandla for the other 9
Gesondheid (to your health)
Spanish Salud
Chin chin
amor y
"Salud" although it can be used as a toast, it literally means "Health". Salud is also said when someone sneezes.
Arriba, abajo, al centro, para adentro ("Up, down, center, inside", vulgar)
Spanish Latin American Salud y amor y tiempo para disfrutarlo
Sri Lanka (Sinhala) Seiradewa (Spoken : Sa-dewa)
Suomi (Finland) see Finnish
Swahili Afya / Vifijo
Svenska / Swedish Skål - Skaal
Helan går (Everything goes)
Swahili Maisha marefu - good life or cheers ( Afya! Vifijo! )
Switzerland / Swiss As you might know, there are 4 language-parts in Switzerland (Swissgerman, French, Italian, and Rätoromanisch) But that's not all, there are also a lot of diffrent dialects here. I'm living in the german part and speak a dialect called "Bärndütsch", so here we go: Cheers = Proscht, Zum Wohl, Gsundheit (the last two means to your health). For the other dialects it's mostly the same, only the accent changs a little bit.
Thanx to Chrigu

 

Country Remark / explanation
T
Tagalog Mabuhay ("Long life")
(Philippines)
Tanzania kisuaheli for east africa
Tansania (and Kenya, Uganda).:
maisha marefu...(long life)
Thai /Thailand

Choc-tee ( Chai-Yo )
hallo or hey : Sawadekaa - (to male) Sawadekap (Female)
Chook-die / Sawasdi

This is incorrect, as the suffix "kaa" and "kap" are not relative to whom you are
speaking, as indicated, but rather whether the speaker is male or female. The suffix
is really like a polite way of finishing a sentense / showing respect, and gender
dependant, so a male would end with "kap", while a female would say "kaa".

ie, when saying hello, a male might say just "sawasdee" informally to a friend, or
"sawasdee kap" when talking to his boss.

Therefore, when is comes to saying cheers, it would be either just "Chok-die" (sp?)
or "Chok-die kaa/kap" depending on whether a female/male has offered the toast.

Thai phrases above in "cheers" section mean "Hi!, How are you going!"
(Sawasdii) and "Good luck!" (chook dii).

The word I have heard for "Cheers!" in Thailand is "Chayoo!" - also the last word of the national anthem, incidentally - which is like a kind of battle cry.

Chai-Yo

Turkish Serefe (write cedille under S) ("To honor")
Sagligina (sing.) (write bars over g's, remove dots over i's) (to your health)
Sagliginiza (plur. or polite) (to your health)
Trinidad In Trinidad, as well as Guyana, the people speak english.
So Cheers is the same in both those countries

 

Country Remark / explanation
U
Uganda

kisuaheli for east africa - Uganda ,Tansania/Tanzania, Kenya..:

maisha marefu...(long life)

Ukrainian In Ukraine we say 'Budmo!'. This means approximately 'shall we live forever!' Usually, one person says 'Budmo!' and everybody at the table/party answers 'Hey!' (the meaning is straightforward). This repeats for up to 3 times depending on the mood of the crowd. Only then, everybody empties their glasses.
Thank you to : Olena Linnyk.
(Old : Na zdorov'ya)
United Arab Emirates (Arab)

Shucram

In Arabic, "Shukran" means 'thank you'. I have never heard "shucram" being used.
Most drinkers in that part of the world are non-Arabs. "Cheers" is what you'll most
likely hear if you're out at a bar in Dubai ... some Emirates do not permit alcohol.

United Kingdom Cheers
United States of America
/USA
Cheers (se also American)
Urdu (Pakistan) Djam
Uruguay (Spanish - Latin American)
Uyghur Hoshe (Cheers)
Salametlikingiz ucun (For your health)
Thank you to : Memet Tursun Zunun

 

Country Remark / explanation
V
Venezuela (Spanish - Latin American)
Vietnamese Chia
Can chén (write dot under a) (North V.N.)
Can ly (write dot under a) (South V.N.)
Uzbekistan "In Vino Veritas" was a popular toast. Translated from Latin means "Truth in Wine"

 

Country Remark / explanation
W
Welsh Iechyd da
Iechyd da
Wales (Welsh)

 

Country Remark / explanation
X

 

Country Remark / explanation
Y
Yiddish Mazel tov Lechaym (Lechaim)
Yugoslavian Ziveo / Ziveli (Though country is split up now word is still in use.)

 

Country Remark / explanation
Z
Zimbbabwe ?
Zulu Oogy wawa (ooggywawa or oogywawa)

 


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