Does anyone out there know the origin of the expression "Cin-Chin" as a toast? I think the Italians use a similarly pronounced "cin-cin". Thanks in advance.
Tellmee(Mon 11:15 22/Jun/09)
(Mon 12:27 22/Jun/09)It comes from the Chinese phrase, ts'ing ts'ing which was a form of greeting. It has been used as a sort of toast since the 1700s in English.
Tellmee
(Mon 13:26 22/Jun/09)
Question Author
Many thanks Quizmonster. Most grateful.
Bert
(Wed 11:14 01/Jul/09)With regard to the Italian "cin-cin", I thought it was (perhaps) from an Italian advertising campaign for Cinzano, the tagline being "Cin-cin - Cinzano".
But Quizmonster is probably correct, and the advertisers were playing on the already-used expression "cin-cin", from the Chinese.