â saluti!
In Sicilian, "cheers" can be expressed as â saluti!, pròsita! or San Brasi!
Meaning: toast when drinking (intj)
Ways to say it
| Sicilian |
|---|
| â saluti! |
| pròsita! |
| San Brasi! |
These phrases are used as a toast when drinking. You may also hear Cin cin! used as an informal way to say "Cheers!"
Which one should you use?
pròsita! is a more formal or traditional way to toast, derived from the Latin 'prosit'.
When do people say it?
You may also encounter the phrase Alla salute!, which specifically means "To your health!"
Did you know?
- The toast San Brasi! refers to Saint Blaise, the patron saint of throat illnesses. By invoking his name while drinking, the toast acts as a symbolic wish for health and protection of the throat.
- While Cin cin! is common across Italy, it is an onomatopoeia meant to mimic the sound of two glasses clinking together. It has no linguistic roots in Latin or the local dialect.
- The term San in San Brasi! shares a distant ancestral root with the Ancient Greek word σάν, which was originally borrowed from a Semitic language.
Examples in context
- N'un briciulu d'u vinu, â saluti!A little bit of wine, cheers!
Example conversation
Calogero and Rosa are having wine at dinner.
- CalogeroQuestu vinu è bonu, Rosa.This wine is good, Rosa.
- RosaSì, è d'u mezu campu.Yes, it is from the middle field.
- CalogeroAllora, â saluti!Well then, cheers!
- Rosa saluti, Calogero!Cheers, Calogero!
Sources
- Wiktionary, “cheers” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries san, â, CC BY-SA 4.0.
