Sláinte means "health" in both Irish and Scottish Gaelic. It is commonly used as a drinking toast in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man. However, the toast is also increasingly being used in other countries within the whisky community.
Sláinte Mhath—Good health—Bonne santé
A toast is a ritual during which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. The term may be applied to the person or thing so honored, the drink taken, or the verbal expression accompanying the drink. Thus, a person could be "the toast of the evening", for whom someone "proposes a toast" to congratulate and for whom a third person "toasts" in agreement. The ritual forms the basis of the literary and performance genre, of which Mark Twain's "To the Babies" is a well-known example.
Wayne Swan, Barack Obama and Julia Gillard toast at a dinner at Parliament House in 2011
Five Swedish men toasting (c. 1900)
Celebratory drinks for the end of World War II
A bride offering a toast at a wedding