yes, koa, you're right about the hungarian. it literally means "to your health" it's also what you say when someone sneezes :p or burps - at least we did in my family
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yes, koa, you're right about the hungarian. it literally means "to your health" it's also what you say when someone sneezes :p or burps - at least we did in my family
Quote:
Originally Posted by mono
I learned to speak modern Greek when I was 22, and spent several years around many different Greeks in many situations. I would only hear them say "Opah!" when dancing, or when someone accidentally trips and it resembles a dance move. When someone toasts, they would say "Yasou" which is a contraction of Hygeia sou, (notice the would that looks like hygeine), meaning "your health".
And at those dances, the word "Kefi" would denote "fun", a good time.
Sometimes, when Greeks are drinking, they would raise the glass and say "Tis petres na phytrosy" ("may it sprout and grow among the rock"), as though you are planting something and then watering it.
In the Philippines, the toast is "Ma bouhai", which means "long life" or "live long"
There is the comical and elaborate toast in America, "Over the teeth, around the gums, look out stomach, here it comes."
Quote:
Originally Posted by anizmail
Yes I've seen it used with the sneezes... just the same as in many languages, it's a 'health' wish...
So...are you Hungarian???
Hmmmmm......seeing a patern here.........many (most) salutations spouted just before consuming alchol seem concerned with one's health. Does this stem from some primal need to foster good luck before imbibing something that might not be good for you?
.......*considers all his imbibing past and present*.....NAH!! Its all good............
A couple used in my family:
"lang may yer lum reek" - common throughout scotland, it literally means may your chimney smell for a long time eg a long life to you. similar to those to your health toasts.
Also:
"Loch Sloy" - The MacFarlane clan battle cry.