Toasts

[Alina Israeli]

>What, then, is factually correct? I, too, would be interested
>to know. I've been living in Russia continuously since 1996,
>and I've had many opportunities to listen to, and make,
>toasts. "Na" is almost always used -- even if, as you say,
>it's wrong to do so. I've never once heard "za" used without
>a pronoun.

You don't have to have "za" in some cases, you can simply say "Vashe
zdorov'e!" But "zdorov'e" toast is the only one which allows the
preposition omission. You cannot omit it in any of the following (or any
other ones I could think of with a noun in them):

Za prekrasnyx dam!
Za xozjajku doma!
Za imeninnika!
Za skorejshee okonhanie [of whatever]!

and so on, whatever the occasion (if there is one).

The original syntactic construction is "podnjat' tost za + Acc" or "vypit'
za". The latter one was used in the title of a play by Zhuxovickij "Vyp'em
za Kolumba!"

If they say "na zdorov'e" while drinking, they are mimicking the use of
this phrase while eating (and obviously mocking it), which roughly means
'it's good for you' which is usually a reply to a thank you at or after the
meal. This mocking use implies that drinking is good for you.

"Na zdorov'e" could also mean 'as you please, I don't care/none of my
problems'. For ex. as in the following dialog:

- I reshila poexat' navestit' syna.
- Nu i ezzhajte na zdorov'e. (Mne-to kakoe delo?)


__________________________
 Alina Israeli
 LFS, American University
 4400 Mass. Ave., NW
 Washington, DC 20016

 phone:    (202) 885-2387
 fax:      (202) 885-1076

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