It’s nearly here. The year 2014 is coming to a close (end) and we’re getting ready to welcome 2015. At parties and get-togethers (informal social events) this week, we’ll be hearing a lot of people ringing in (welcoming) the new year with a toast.
We’re all familiar with toasts. When we’re at a celebration, such as a wedding reception (party after the marriage ceremony), people offer a few words of good wishes, asking the guests to raise (lift up) their glasses in celebration. Most toasts begin with the word “May,” as in “May the newly married couple live a happy and long life together.” “May,” in this case, expresses our wish or hope that something will happen.
It is also common to begin a toast with Here’s to, as in “Here’s to all of the people who helped us make this event a success” or “Here’s to ten more years of our company’s success.” In this case, “Here’s to” means “I’m offering these words or wishes to [something or someone].”
And on New Year’s Eve, the day before the first day of 2015, many people will be offering toasts to each other, wishing good things for their friends and family. Since you are all part of the ESL Podcast family, I thought I’d present a few toasts to you.
May all your troubles last as long as your New Year’s resolutions.
~Joey Adams
Joey Adams was an American comedian (person whose job is make you laugh) and writer. He was born in 1911 in New York. He wrote for newspapers, published 23 books, and had a long career in comedy.
Your troubles are your problems, the things that bother you or that cause you problems. Resolutions are the promises we make to ourselves to do things differently or better in the future. We all make New Year resolutions, and as Joey Adams points out, we don’t always keep them for very long.
Here’s to being single, drinking doubles, and seeing triple.
~Irish toast
This is a traditional toast from Ireland.
Being single means to not be married and to not have a girlfriend or boyfriend. If an alcoholic drink is a double, it contains more alcohol than a regular drink, which we do not call a “single.” (It’s just called a regular drink.) Sometimes a “double” has twice (two times) the alcohol than in a normal drink, and sometimes it’s just a little more alcohol than usual. It depends on the bar, the place serving the drink.
When we’re under the influence of (have drunk or have taken) alcohol or drugs, our vision or sight is often not very clear. We call this seeing double. This toast mentions “seeing triple,” with triple meaning three times, so this is just a joke meaning that the person offering the toast hopes you’re having so much fun that you see a lot of strange things.
May your troubles be less and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door.
~Irish toast
Finally, this is another traditional toast from Ireland. I won’t say anything about the Irish and drinking, but I think we all know where our favorite Irish American podcaster gets his gift of gab (ability to speak easily and well).
We’ve already talked about “troubles.” Blessings are the exact opposite. “Blessings” are the good things in our lives that we feel grateful for or happy about. Some people may consider their children or good friends a blessing. In some religions, a “blessing” also refers to God’s protection and help, so someone might say, “I hope that our new project has God’s blessing.”
And now my own toast to you:
May you all improve your English faster than you thought possible, speak like native English speakers, and not care if you don’t.
On behalf of (representing) all of us here at ESL Podcast, have a happy New Year and a wonderful 2015!
– Lucy
Photo Credit: From Wikipedia
Hi Lucy.
I was trying to find anything meaningful and wise and intelligent…but I could not find anything. Just thank you for your wishes and for the all the podcast of 2014.
May Apollo and Wenchang Wang help Lucy at writing good podcast for 2015!
Thanks
Thank you so much dear Lucy, I just wish you good books to read, good health to live, good days to enjoy, good Friends to have wonderful moments, good ideas
to make scrips, good feelings, and of course good earning along next year to get just what you want….happiness and love from you lover one.
Jeff, just the same for you dear friend.
Warren, the same for you beside health to all your family and Friends.
ESL Staf even the same as to the other, health, work and happines.
ESl Friends my best wishes to you all.
Cuca and Emiliano
Thank you dear Lucy for all your good wishes for all of us for the almost here
new year.
Lucy,Jeff, Warren,and staff of ESL; I want to wish you a HAPPY NEW YEAR 2015!!!!!
I see new people in this page, and I feel good seeing them. Who is Mine? Where is he/she from? I like to meet new people, especially when they are interesting. New ideas, new points of vew, new understandings. I am Aecio, from Brazil, a beautiful country, located on south of the line of equador, where there is no sin. Come to meet this place where God blesses, where there is sun every day. Only those who knows this country well is able to say good things about it. Don’t miss it. come soon.
Aecio
CHEERS and happy 2015 to you all!!!!
Hi!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our dear teachers and ESLPodcast team!
Love,
Tania
Hi!
HAPPY NEW YEAR to all of our dear blog friends!
Love,
Tania
Hi!
“As I think about our friendship and how happy it has made me,
I want to wish you happiness in the year to come.”
Hi!
“Cheers to a new year and another chance for us to get it right.”
Oprah Winfrey Quote
Hi! I can see a boat in the photo.
“I am sailing,
I am flying
Like a bird
‘Cross the sky
I am flying
Passing high clouds
To be with you,
To be free.”
I Am Sailing, Rod Stewart
Tania is a poet.
Aecio
Hi there.
As a new year resolution I would like to get better at commenting on the blog so that the reader does not cringe or think that i am an idiot.
We’ll see.
What about you guys?
Bye.
Here’s another one just popped up in my mind:
So that the reader does not facepalm him/herself. Just that good, that’s enough.
thanks
Hi!
I have listened to the concert for the New Year of the Philarmonic from Viena.
All flowers were pink, rose and red.
For the first time I have listened to Electromagnetic Polka dedicated to the students from the Technique University.
Hi!
The music is one of the innocent pleasure of the life.
Hi!
Difficult with my English.
Reading “Irish toast” … it cannot be a slice of toasted bread. Then I have remembered that we use the same word “toast”
to honor good wishes to by drinking.
I like very much Jeff’s Irish toast.
“May your troubles be less and your blessings be more and nothing but happiness come through your door.”
Hi!
Then a new question with “may”.
I know the auxiliary verb “may” expressing possibility or permission.
I see that “may” expresses and our wish or hope that something will happen.
Now I can translate accurately and Lucy’s toast:
“May you all improve your English faster than you thought possible, speak like native English speakers,
and not care if you don’t.”
Like Jeff says, “thank you, Lucy!”
Hi! The same with “resolution”.
I just know that “resolution” means the solving of a problem, to take a decision.
And now… New Year resolutions.
I have to learn all the time.
There are so many toasts in The New Year with Chinese.I did not know how to translate them to the English version.Haha…I am joking. Learning English is not about translating. It is about acquiring the language(English).I had remmmbered this since I firstly saw your website.But what I know is that whatever the toasts are much beatiful or not.The most good toasts depands on the people, who you are talking to.You know that.The best toast for us is that in the new year our English improve fast. And also Jeff provides more better learning sources.Anyway thanks for Jeff ‘s great work for us for the past year.
Thanks Dear Lucy,me too truly wish you all a happy new year and a great 2015!
Happy new year to all people and their family. May all your dream come true this year! Cheers!
Happy New Year Everyone!
Thank you Dear Lucy, A Toast to you and everyone in ESLPOD.COM – teachers, supporting staff, learners, everyone indeed!
I like the good wishes in all the toasts you teach us above. It’s very similar to our Chinese tradition – wishing people happiness, good health, good luck with money and job promotions, etc etc.
Lucy are you a toastmaster? My guess is, you are not. Why? Because you don’t want to become the toast of the world (to be very popular in the world). You only let us see one of your hands in one of ESLPOD.COM’s anniversary videos, remember?
Inspired by your article above, I looked up the word “toast” and found some interesting uses of the word “toast” including the expression “be the toast of something”.
One of the uses surprises me though. In “thefreedictionary.com”, it says:
“be toast, Slang. to be doomed, ruined, or in trouble: If you come here again, you’re toast!”
So here it means becoming a toast is a bad situation.
On the one hand, “be the toast of something” is marvellous, on the other hand, “be toast” means in trouble!!! Might be I should stop study dictionaries too much, these conflicting meanings of one word drive me crazy.
One of my new year resolutions is to improve my English further. Since this is something I’ve been doing for many years, I think it’s quite easy to keep this resolution.
All the best wishes for 2015 for you all!
lili:)
Hi Lili
You did not mention the other kind of Toast, the one you eat, you know, kind of bread.
Do you still attend toastmaster clubs? and if so, where? in HK or London?.
I was looking at the website at the one in HK district 89, looking at few photos. I think I have spotted you in one of those 🙂 kidding.
No, really, can you please elaborate more on that, I am curios.
I mean, do you want to became the leader of the world? or just hang out with someone, or be able to practice English, or maybe you are shy in public and wanna tackle that issue…
The reasons could be many. What’s yours?
Thank you Lili, hope you do not find me too nosy.