After last week’s rant, I thought I owed it to you to write about something a bit more, well, cheerful. Not that the TfL problem has gone away, nor the Planning Department, nor Pep Guardiola, but the weather has (for the time being at least) and we can raise a glass to that.
But wait! Why do we do that? Why do we raise our glasses and clink them together and say “Cheers!” before drinking? I’ve been looking into it.
In February last year I wrote about the word Toast, as I’m sure you remember, but I focused more on the toast you eat rather than the toast you propose. At the end was a brief footnote about spiced toast being dropped into drinks in the Middle Ages to flavour them – and that was that. Not much use to anybody.
So let’s expand. The word ‘cheers’ comes from an Old French word ‘chiere’, meaning the face, and more specifically the emotion it conveys. Call it the countenance if you like. So your cheer could be good or bad, depending on how you were feeling. Hence the need to say things like “Men of good cheer” rather than just “Men of cheer”. People would greet each other with the enquiry, “What cheer?”, which has evolved into “Wotcha!”
By the end of the 14th century, however, ‘cheer’ was being used only for happy faces, with ‘slapped arse’ or ‘dog’s bum with a hat on’ replacing the description for the grumpier countenance. Swiftly following came the verb ‘to cheer’ (to make cheerful or encourage) and cheering became a popular past-time among sailors. They would cheer at anything: a breath of wind, the sight of land, a woman coming on board, a man coming on board, a dog coming on board, a woman disembarking, a man disembarking, a dog barking, Barking…
Meanwhile, “cheers!” became the customary exclamation before drinking. The sentiment was basically “May the booze make us cheerful!” and it went with the raising of cups – from the Greek and Roman tradition of offering part of the feast up to the gods – and bashing them together. One theory has it that the bashing was designed to guard against poisoning by ensuring a bit of each drink spilt into the others. Altogether it added to the sense of trust and bonding that drinking together engenders. “I wish you health and happiness, I offer thanks to the gods and on this occasion I’m not going to kill you.” Brings a tear to your eye.
As does the realisation that one of the greatest ever sitcoms came to an end 31 years ago this month, after 275 fabulous episodes. Here’s a small sip:
Woody: “Can I pour you a beer, Mr Peterson?”
Norm: “A little early isn’t it, Woody?”
Woody: “For a beer?”
Norm: “No, for stupid questions.”
Cheers!
