на здоровье
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Russian
Russian phrasebook
 | This entry is part of the phrasebook project, which presents criteria for inclusion based on utility, simplicity and commonness. |
Pronunciation
Interjection
- to your heart's content
- you're welcome (in answer to a thanks for food or refreshments)
- 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!
Usage notes
- 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 ва́ше здоро́вье (za váše zdoróvʹje) (more commonly used toast when drinking)
- будь здоро́в (budʹ zdoróv), будь здоро́ва (budʹ zdoróva) бу́дьте здоро́вы (búdʹte zdoróvy)
- na zdrowie (Polish)