на здоровье

Russian

Russian phrasebook

This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness.

на здоро́вье • (na zdoróvʹje)

to your heart's content
Ку́шайте, пе́йте на здоро́вье! ― Kúšajte, péjte na zdoróvʹje! ― Eat, drink to your heart's content!
you're welcome (in answer to a thanks for food or refreshments)
Synonym: пожа́луйста (požálujsta)

Спаси́бо за чай, тётя Лю́ба! ― Spasíbo za čaj, tjótja Ljúba! ― Thanks for the tea, aunt Lyuba!

На здоро́вье, Серёжа, переда́й приве́т ма́ме. ― Na zdoróvʹje, Serjóža, peredáj privét máme. ― You're welcome, Seryozha. Say hello to (your) mum.
do as you want at your own risk, be my guest (sarcastically)
Ты хо́чешь спры́гнуть с кры́ши? На здоро́вье! ― Ty xóčešʹ sprýgnutʹ s krýši? Na zdoróvʹje! ― You want to jump off the roof? Go ahead!

It is commonly believed in America that, на здоро́вье (na zdoróvʹje) means, "cheers!" when sharing a drink or proposing a toast in Russian. While the phrase is used to mean, "You're welcome," when receiving thanks for food or drink (see definition 2), it is incorrect to call it a toast. The similar but correct phrase is, за здоро́вье (za zdoróvʹje) with за (za) rather than на (na). The difference in prepositions makes the difference between the phrase meaning, "To your health!" (за (za)) and "For your health," (на (na)). Even when used correctly, за здоро́вье (za zdoróvʹje) is not a particularly widespread toast to the same extent "Cheers!" is in the Anglophone world, it is more common to say (за) Ва́ше здоро́вье ((za) Váše zdoróvʹje), meaning "(to) your health".
The first documented use of на здоро́вье (na zdoróvʹje) outside of Russia is the "Casablanca" movie (where it seems to be used correctly, but for the audience unfamiliar with the context it still sounds like a toast, because the phrase was pronounced by a Russian-speaking bartender).
The misconception may have arisen from confusion with Polish - where, na zdrowie, actually is used as a toast to mean, "cheers!". See also за здравие (za zdravije) (used as a toast or in a church) and за ва́ше здоро́вье (za váše zdoróvʹje) (more commonly used toast when drinking).