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 the United States that на здоро́вье (na zdoróvʹje) means "cheers!" and is used when sharing a drink or proposing a toast in Russian. Actually, the phrase is used to mean "You're welcome" when receiving thanks for food or drink (see definition 2), but is never used in Russia as a toast. A similar but correct phrase is за здоро́вье (za zdoróvʹje), with за (za) rather than на (na). The different preposition makes the difference between "To your health!" (за (za)) and "For your health" (на (na)). Even the correct form за здоро́вье (za zdoróvʹje) is not a particularly widespread toast in Russia, with a more common form being (за) Ва́ше здоро́вье ((za) Váše zdoróvʹje), meaning "(to) your health".
One early documented use of на здоро́вье (na zdoróvʹje) in American contexts is in the movie "Casablanca".
The American 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).