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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for August 9, 1999
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Why do we clink our glasses when drinking a toast?
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In medieval times, a common way to kill an enemy was to offer him a
poisoned drink. To prove to the guest that a drink was safe, the host
would receive a small amount of the guest's drink in his own glass,
and both would drink at the same time.
If the guest trusted the host, rather than pouring some of his drink
into the host's glass he would simply clink his glass against it.
Although offering a poisoned drink is no longer a popular way to kill
someone, the custom of clinking glasses still remains.
There is another reason why the custom has held so long: in medieval
times, the sound of bells was thought to scare off the Devil. The
Devil was thought to frequent festive occasions, so the bell-like
sound of glasses clinking was often heard at such events.
Toasts are traditional at weddings:
http://www.weddingbells.com/unitedstates/toast/toast.html
http://www.weddingmall.com/groom/toast.html
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