喝酒时为什么要碰杯

    酒会上人头攒动，清脆的碰杯声此起彼伏。不知从什么时候开始，举杯已经不足以表达当时的情绪，一定要“碰了”才算。为什么要碰杯呢？仅仅是为了表示良好祝愿吗？

    Clinking of glasses traces¹ its root to the health and safety of the drinker. In this case, it goes back to when nobles wanted to kill each other off by poisoning their food!

    Wine was very commonly drunk² during medieval³ days because it was one of the only safe liquids available. Water was often polluted, and milk was both useful for other things and thought to be for children only. As the wine was often full of sediment⁴, a poison was easily introduced into it.

    To prove that his wine was safe, the host would pour a bit of his guest's wine into his own glass and drink it first, to prove it was safe. If the guest trusted his host, however, he would merely clink his flagon against that of his host's when his host offered his cup for the sample.

    The 'clink' was a sign of trust and honesty.

    Later, as metal and glass became more common, the chiming noise also brought a festive⁵ feel to events, and brought to mind the 'safe' feeling of church bells.

    sediment: 沉淀   flagon: 酒杯肚