Found in Translation

Some Thing s Just Sound Be tte r in Fre nch
“To start, I suggest something blown by the wind, followed by fat liver and a dainty thick slice.
And how about some burned cream for dessert?” Chances are, if your waiter greeted you with these
words, you’d get up and leave the restaurant. But just substitute these phrases for their equivalent
terms in French—vol-au-vent, foie gras, filet mignon, and crème brûlée—and suddenly you’ve got
your appetite back. Translation? No, thanks!
We’ll Drink to That
“Cheers!” It’s a term uttered by English speakers after many a toast at
international gatherings, and it’s been featured in many an ad campaign for
alcoholic beverages, but it’s one of those words that presents a special
challenge in translation. The word or phrase that people say before having a
drink differs greatly from one place to another. The translation of the word
cheers provides a perfect example of how many terms—especially ones that
are deeply rooted in culture—cannot be translated literally.
The word cheers as a predrink salutation came into English from the word
chere, which was used in medieval times to mean expression or mood. By
1919, the word as most English speakers know and use it today became
popular in Britain. Essentially, the person uttering the word cheers is wishing

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others a good time and an enjoyable drink. So how do you create the same
effect in other languages?
In Danish, Norwegian, and Swedish, you’ll say skål, which is similar to skál
in Faroese and Icelandic. Urban legend has it that the reason this word is used
for cheers is that the Vikings used to drink out of their enemies’ skulls.
Actually, the word does not have any linguistic link to the word skull; it means
“bowl” or “drink vessel.” Instead of using skulls (messy!), Norsemen
preferred to drink out of a cow’s horn, because they were easier to obtain and
naturally hollow.
In a wide array of languages throughout the world, the word cheers
essentially translates into wishing someone good health. This is the case for
languages like Spanish (salud), Italian (salute), French (à votre santé), Irish
(sláinte), Russian (
), and Bulgarian (
). In German, it’s
typical to wish someone good health when drinking wine (zum Wohl).
However, beer calls for a different sentiment (prost, which comes from the
Latin prosit, meaning “may it be good”).
For many languages, it’s more customary to wish someone a long life, such
as Hebrew (
), Armenian (
), Turkish ( erefe), and Serbian (
). In
others, no well-wishing is needed—instead, a simple “bottoms up” will suffice.
Languages like Japanese (
), Chinese (
), and Korean (
) instruct
people to “dry the glass.” And in Bengali, it’s customary to wish them victory (
).
So, at your next opportunity to attend a gathering where people speak
multiple languages, if you want to be extra careful to minimize the risk of
mistranslation and make sure you’re understood across most languages and
cultures, we suggest saying something like the following, “I wish you a long
and victorious life, full of health and good luck. Now, bottoms up, and have a
great time!”