(tapping)

You're at a bar catching up with a friend

you haven't seen in months.

- Hey.

- Hi.

- [Director] The bartender brings you your drinks,

and right before you take a sip,

the two of you touch glasses and say,

- Cheers, - Cheers.

(glasses clink) (jazzy music)

- [Director] Why does this happen?

Do either of you know where this comes from?

- Yes, actually.

- [Director] If you know it don't say it.

- Why don't, what?

You just asked me if I know?

(laughs)

I think I do.

- I think I know too.

- You think you know also?

Should we say it?

Should we say it? - [Director] So what

do you think it is?

- It's a longer, - because,

(fast forward)

- [Director] Okay, you're right about that

but where does saying "cheers" come from?

- It's a TV show.

(laughs) (applauds)

- Which came first, the TV show?

I don't know.

(trumpet music) - [Director] The word "cheers"

comes from the old french word for "face",

"chiere".

- Cher?

We should just yell "face".

(laughs) - Face!

- Face!

- [Director] Cheer evolved over time

to mean mood or expression,

and later went on to mean "A good mood".

But the exact timing of the origin of the word "cheers"

as a toast is debated.

- I think I cracked the glass a little bit.

- How? - When I was "cheers"ing

too hard. I don't know.

- [Director] According to Miriam Webster,

the first use of the word "cheers" as a toast

was in 1930.

However, Oxford English Dictionary contends

that the phrase "cheers" came into use earlier

during World War One.

- World War One.

I thought it would be older.

I'm thinking like,

- Kings-- - Medieval times.

- Yeah, Medieval, like - Like

- Cheers! - Cheers!

- [Director] Historians speculate that the origin

of the contemporary toast was the Greek practice

of pouring out some of one's drink

to honor the Gods.

- Pour one out.

- Pour one out!

What a mess!

- Yeah.

- Don't do that at my house, please.

- Wait, for the Gods?

Like the Gods would ...

Drink the floor drink?

(classical harp music)

Pour one out for Zeus!

(drinks pouring on the floor)

- Like Santa.

(twinkling music) Like leaving cookies

out for him. - Yeah.

- Can you imagine if you had to throw

cookies and milk on the floor for Santa?

(laughs)

Unh! (cookies hit the floor)

- There you go, Santa.

(laughs)

- [Director] Legend has it that the original purpose

of the glass clinking was to keep away evil spirits,

including the evil spirits thought to be responsible

for making people drunk.

- Oh!

So if you cheers, you won't be drunk?

That's bull-- (bleep)

- So they're like, "But why am I getting ...

Stupid all the time?" - Yeah.

They're like, "Oh why-- - It's 'cause of

the evil spirits! - Do my limbs feel weird?"

- Let's clink our glasses-- - It must

- They hate high pitched noises.

- [Director] Author Douglas B. Smith

suggests that people clink their glasses together

prior to drinking because in the past,

people would attempt to murder their enemies

by poisoning their drinks. - Yeah.

Knew that.

(rewinding) They would cheers and then,

some of my drink would go in your drink,

and your drink would go in my drink to make sure

we weren't poisoning each other.

- That's what my-- - Is that also

what you heard? - Belief. Yes.

- Called it.

(vigorous classical music) I mean,

it happens in 'Game of Thrones'.

When they pour each other drinks and they're like ...

They don't drink until after - Yeah.

- You drink. - Yeah, yeah.

- It happens. - I think it's a weird

social game.

- No one is safe.

(dramatic music)

(jazzy music) - [Director] The word "toast"

itself has a strange back story.

Stemming from the practice of dropping

a piece of charred or spiced toast in wine

to make the drink taste better.

(toaster spring)

- Cheers the toast. - Cheers the toast.

- And you just drop it in?

Attention!

A toast! (laughs)

- I'd like to raise a toast.

- Hey!

(laughs)

Yeah, it tastes like toast. - There's definitely a

crack in this.

- [Director] In the 1700s, the word 'toast' evolved

to also mean the person being honored by the toast,

leading to the phrase, 'Toast of the Town'.

- Oh.

- [Director] First century C.E. poet,

Martial,

detailed the Roman practice of having guests drink

as many glasses of wine as there were letters

in their hosts' mistress' name.

- Stephanie was the most popular girl

in their town. (laughs)

- That's a long name. - And Al was just,

no one was showing up to his parties.

- Where'd Brad go?

Ah, he went down at the 'P'.

He's done.

- Yeah. - Didn't make it.

- Don't even have to worry about the poison

when you're just choking on toast the whole time.

- [Director] And over the years the custom evolved,

and people no longer drank entire glasses during a toast,

instead, taking a small sip of their drinks,

or even just making eye contact

with the person being toasted was enough.

- It's like a greeting.

Cheers, mate.

Like, "Cheers" - Cheers.

So people use it as their - Hi, Cheers.

- Sign off on their emails. - Yes.

Mm-hmm (affirmative) - I'm like,

this guy.

- Cheers!

- Cheers!

Jonathan.

- [Woman] Hey, if you can get this back to me

by the end of today, that would be really great.

Cheers! - [Man] Cheers!

(dreamy jazz music)