{"id":4494,"date":"2024-12-20T18:21:47","date_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:21:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=4494"},"modified":"2024-12-20T18:21:48","modified_gmt":"2024-12-20T18:21:48","slug":"cheers-%f0%9f%98%9f","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/?p=4494","title":{"rendered":"Cheers \ud83d\ude1f"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A couple of days ago I talked about how we think of the word cheer as being associated with happiness. But \u2014 it wasn\u2019t always that way.
Originally, a cheer was something to be seen<\/em>, not heard<\/em> \u2014 and sometimes the sight was one of sadness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cheer is a word adapted from Anglo-French, which itself is derived from the Medieval Latin cara<\/em> and probably the Greek kara<\/em>. All of those source words mean \u201cface.\u201d The English word cheer (often found in medieval writings in the form chere<\/em>) shares that meaning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That came to refer to a person\u2019s facial expression as well as to a person\u2019s state of mind, heart, or spirit. So a person\u2019s cheer could run the emotional gamut from happiness to sadness depending on the circumstances. It wasn\u2019t until the 1300s that people began associating cheer more often with a state or feeling of happiness rather than sadness or despondency. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Next time you\u2019re out with friends, and have had a few \u201ccheers,\u201d you might mention how cheer meant \u201cface\u201d in medieval times and how cheer as a word for happiness is a relatively recent development. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And I guess before we leave the subject, because \u201cCheers\u201d is often associated with a toast, it might be appropriate to talk about toasting\u2026.
The term toast \u2014 having a drink to one\u2019s health, happiness, or accomplishment, comes from the literal practice of dropping a piece of toast in your drink. In the 16th century, it was a common practice to add a piece of scorched or spiced toast to wine. The bread would help to soak up some of the acidity and improve the flavor of poor or cheap wine. As a bonus, it would also help to soften the stale bread. If you\u2019re a fan of Shakespeare, you may remember that in the Merry Wives of Windsor,<\/em> Falstaff called for a quart of wine and said, \u201cput a toast in it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By the 18th century, the term toast had come to mean a person honored by the toast, rather than an actual floating piece of bread. You\u2019ve probably heard some particularly famous or popular people referred to as \u201cthe toast of the town.\u201d
So, in the spirit of the season, gather round, and raise a toast and cheers to happiness, good health, and a better year ahead.\u00a0
\u2014 30 \u2014<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A couple of days ago I talked about how we think of the word cheer as being associated with happiness. But \u2014 it wasn\u2019t always that way.Originally, a cheer was something to be seen, not heard \u2014 and sometimes the … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4494"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4494"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4494\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4495,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4494\/revisions\/4495"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/jimmy.ekota.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}