VIDEO: 28 Ways to Say "Cheers" Around the World
It’s probably the first word you learn in a new country (after, perhaps “could I have two beers”). In many languages it means “good health” or in some cases just “health” but can have other meanings such as chon “to crash against” in Thai. No matter how you say cheers, it is always said before taking a drink with friends.
We scoured the streets of London to find people from all over the world to teach us how to say this essential phrase in their native tongues. Bonus points for everyone who spoke more than one language!
Here’s the list of languages from the video, along with how to pronounce them like a local.
| Language | Spelling | Phonetic |
|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Gëzuar | Geh-zoo-ah |
| Catalan | Salut | Sah-lut |
| Chamorro | Biba | Bih-bah |
| Danish | Skål | Skoal |
| Dutch | Proost | Prohst |
| English | Cheers | Cheers! |
| Estonian | Terviseks | Ter-vih-sex |
| Filipino | Tagay | Tah-gai |
| Finnish | Kippis | Kip-pis |
| Flemish | Schol | Skohl |
| French | Santé | Sahn-tay |
| German | Prost | Prohst |
| Greek | Γειά μας | Yamas |
| Irish | Sláinte | Slawn-cha |
| Italian | Salute | Sah-luteh |
| Korean | 건배 | Gun-bei |
| Latvian | Priekā | Pree-eh-ka |
| Lithuanian | į sveikatą | Ee sweh-kata |
| Mandarin | 干杯 | Gan-bay |
| Polish | Na zdrowie | Naz-droh-vee-ay |
| Romanian | Noroc | Nor-rock |
| Russian | На здоровье | Na-zdor-ovi-ah |
| Serbian | živeli | Zee-vel-ee |
| Sinhala | ඡය වේවා | Jai-ah vee-vah |
| Spanish | Salud | Sah-lud |
| Swedish | Skål | Skoal |
| Thai | ชน | Chon |
| Turkish | Şerefe | Sher-i-feh |
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