Salut! Prost! Skal! Na zdrave! Tagay!

No matter what country you clink glasses in, everyone has a word for cheers. In Cheers! Around the World in 80 Toasts, Brandon Cook takes readers on a whirlwind trip through languages from Estonian to Elvish and everywhere in between. Need to know how to toast in Tagalog? Say "bottoms up" in Basque? "Down the hatch" in Hungarian? Cook teaches readers how to toast in 80 languages and includes drinking traditions, historical facts, and strange linguistic phenomena for each. Sweden, for instance, has a drinking song that taunts an uppity garden gnome, while Turkey brandishes words like Avrupalilastiramadiklarimizdanmissinizcasina. And the most valuable liquor brand in the world isn't Johnny Walker or Hennessey, but Maotai-President Nixon's liquor of choice when he visited China.

Whether you're traveling the globe or the beer aisle, Cheers! will show you there's a world of fun waiting for you. So raise a glass and begin exploring!

The audio book is narrated by Nicholas Smith. Produced by Speechki in 2021.

About the Author

Brandon Cook is a writer and language enthusiast. He currently lives in Prague. Cheers! is his first book.

Reviews

Say you're invited to a wedding where the groom is from Indonesia or the bride is Romanian, and you'd like to toast them in their native languages. A new book, "Cheers! Around the World in 80 Toasts," will tell you that "Bersulang!" or "Noroc!" are what you need to say as you raise your glass. This global lexicon, written with a light touch, is a scholarly treatise on toasts in scores of languages and takes a deep dive into linguistics, history and traditions. The author, a writer and teacher, is proficient in five languages. He has organized the book by region, with the countries in each listed in alphabetical order for easy reference. You'll discover what to say, what libation should fill the glass and how it all came about. Read it with a clear head; there's much to learn.

-- Florence Fabricant * New York Times Food *

Cook debuts with an entertaining guide on how to give a toast in nearly 80 languages. . . . It's worth raising a glass to the enthusiasm and good nature of this fun project.

* Publishers Weekly *

A new book explores drinking traditions across cultures and languages, and how rituals of celebration have evolved around the world, through a spirited study of 80 ways to raise your glass.

-- Sucheta Chakraborty * Mumbai Mid-Day *

Even if you have not set foot outside of your own home for over a year, this brick of a book can take you on a whirlwind worldwide tour in the comfort of that home with the potential for an additionally comforting beverage in your non-page-turning hand! . . . We all have so much to celebrate. Let's share our joys with the world.

-- Matt Robinson * Matt's Meals *

A fascinating little book that sheds light on how different cultures raise a glass, and who, what and how they toast while doing so.

* Decanter *

The collection of wry historical insights about raising a glass in 100 countries and almost that many languages is served up with keen observations on humanity and linguistics.

-- Babs Rodriguez * 360West *



Book Information
ISBN 9781684351459
Author Brandon Cook
Format Hardback
Page Count 378
Imprint Red Lightning Books
Publisher Red Lightning Books
Weight(grams) 494g