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Toasts were gestures of respect that honored someone or something. They often involved an honorific speech and a shared alcoholic drink. The term referred to the words spoken to commemorate the event, or the drink itself.
The Human act of toasting consisted of three parts: the honorific speech, the agreement, and the symbolic drink. In the speech, one person gave cause for the toast. Everyone else present signified approval by lifting their drinks into the air, often accompanied by verbal assent. Such agreement was offered either with a language-specific, generic toast word, or hearty agreement of the honorific speech, with terms such as "Hear! Hear!". Following this ritualistic agreement, the glasses of the participants were usually touched against those of everyone else within reach. The symbolic drink was then taken. If the drink on offer was of a small quantity, such as a shot, the contents were wholly consumed in a single gulp. If not, a generous portion of the total drink was taken, to indicate strong agreement.
On some occasions, a toast was refused. Generally, refusing a toast was a rude act that insulted not just the object of the toast, but the speaker offering the toast. However, if refusal was accompanied by an appropriate explanation, it was possible to disagree with the object of the toast without offending the host. Refusal of the toast was accompanied by the act of pouring out the ritual beverage, or by not holding the offered drink.
There were some Human events that required toasts pro forma, typically legally-significant events such as weddings, military promotions, and the conclusion of commercial or diplomatic negotiations.
Toast words
- Cheers (TAS: "The Practical Joker")
- Salud (TAS: "The Practical Joker")
Examples
Toasts were a rather common celebratory custom, of which there were several notable examples:
- In 2063, Earth warp technology pioneer Zefram Cochrane toasted with members of the USS Enterprise-E who had traveled back in time from 2373 in order to stop a Borg scheme. (Star Trek: First Contact)
- In 2152, Sub-Commander T'Pol, Captain Archer, and Commander Tucker toasted to T'Pol having served one year to the day on Enterprise, longer than any Vulcan had ever served on a Human ship. (ENT: "Carbon Creek")
- Later the same year, Shran offered a toast to "our mutual dissatisfaction" with Soval, Muroc, T'Pol, and Archer, after Archer described successful negotiations as ones in which neither side is happy. Soval noted that the occasion merited "an exception" to the normal Vulcan dietary exclusion of alcohol. (ENT: "Cease Fire")
- In 2153, Commander Tucker and Captain Archer toasted the memory of Henry Archer as they pondered how his warp engine might help save Humanity from the Xindi. (ENT: "The Expanse")
- The same year, Tarquin proposed a toast "to solitude", while Human Starfleet Ensign Hoshi Sato was visiting his planet. (ENT: "Exile")
- Later in 2153, Xindi-Arboreal Gralik Durr proposed that he and Captain Archer toast "to trust". Each of them then duly clinked a mug they held with the other person's mug. (ENT: "The Shipment")
- On the Skagaran colony planet, Deputy Bennings made a toast "to the dearly departed, to dead Skags" while in a saloon in 2153. He and a couple of accompanying cowboy friends of his drank in recognition of the toast, which was really an attempt to bully a Skagaran named Draysik, as a fellow Skagaran had recently been lynched by Bennings and his cohorts. (ENT: "North Star")
- While sharing some Andorian ale with Captain Archer in December of 2153, Shran proposed a toast "to a swift victory" against the Xindi. (ENT: "Proving Ground")
- In 2161, Archer and Trip Tucker toasted the development of warp 7 with a bottle of whiskey 42 years old. (ENT: "These Are the Voyages...")
- In 2267, Kor offered to toast the victory of the Klingon fleet against Starfleet forces with James T. Kirk. (TOS: "Errand of Mercy")
- In the mirror universe that year, Marlena Moreau toasted Spock for being the only man aboard the ISS Enterprise with the decency to warn Kirk of Starfleet Command's orders to have him executed. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror")
- In 2268, Spock and a Romulan commander drank a silent toast after Spock's apparent defection. (TOS: "The Enterprise Incident")
- Later that year, several toasts were proposed when Miranda Jones came aboard the USS Enterprise: to beauty, to Jones herself, and to whatever she wanted the most. (TOS: "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
- In 2269, Bele proposed a toast in anticipation of Starfleet Command allowing him to extradite Lokai. (TOS: "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield")
- Later that year, Lucien toasted new friendship with Asmodeus, claiming it was a favorite old Earth custom of his. (TAS: "The Magicks of Megas-Tu")
- In 2270, Leonard McCoy proposed a toast to a narrow escape from the Romulans. (TAS: "The Practical Joker")
- In 2285, Kirk gave a toast in Spock's honor after his death. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock)
- In 2293, Klingon Chancellor Gorkon gave a toast to "the undiscovered country... the future", ahead of impending peace talks between the Klingon Empire and the United Federation of Planets. In return, Leonard McCoy gave a toast to the Chancellor, calling him "one of the architects of the future". (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country)
- In 2364, Jean-Luc Picard proposed a toast to Deanna Troi and her husband-to-be Wyatt Miller and their families, and the hope that their union would be a productive one. (TNG: "Haven")
- , Later, when Lieutenant Commander Data first met his "brother", Lore, Lore introduced him to this Human custom and, using champagne, made a few toasts: one to their discovery of each other, one to Doctor Noonien Soong, and one to the Crystalline Entity. (TNG: "Datalore")
- In 2365, Lwaxana Troi toasted Earthmen, whom she considered to have a "unique ability to charm women of all races, in all corners of the galaxy." (TNG: "Manhunt")
- Later that year, Picard and Jenice Manheim drank a toast as they said goodbye on the holodeck. (TNG: "We'll Always Have Paris")
- In 2366, Doctor Nel Apgar may have offered the toast "To success" regarding his work on developing Krieger waves as a source of energy. The toast was shown in a holographic recreation of events. (TNG: "A Matter of Perspective")
- That same year, when Picard was temporarily replaced by an alien impostor, the impostor visited Ten Forward, ordered ales for everyone there, and then made the toast, "Here's to the finest crew in Starfleet." He then stated that, when he was in Starfleet Academy, it was traditional to follow every toast with a song and led the crew in singing "Heart of Oak". (TNG: "Allegiance")
- Also in 2366, Lieutenant Reginald Barclay ran a holographic program in which he displayed insubordinate behavior towards holographic versions of Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge and Commander William T. Riker. When the holographic Riker called him out for this, he offered the toast, "Here's to insubordination." (TNG: "Hollow Pursuits")
- Near the year's end, Picard toasted the success of the Trade Agreements Conference on Betazed. (TNG: "Ménage à Troi")
- In 2367, Captain Picard poured two glasses of Chateau Picard and offered a toast to Chancellor Durken after initiating First Contact with the Malcorians. (TNG: "First Contact")
- Soon after, in Q's recreation of Sherwood Forest, Sir Guy of Gisbourne toasted Maid Marian (Vash}, whom he described as "the most beautiful bride-to-be in the whole of England." (TNG: "Qpid")
- In 2370, Quark obsequiously proposed a toast to old friends in order to pacify Fallit Kot who had gone to Deep Space 9 to murder him. Kot responded with "To old debts." (DS9: "Melora")
- Soon after, Picard toasted freedom, after his and Beverly Crusher's mental separation from one another due to a Prytt implant. (TNG: "Attached")
- Weeks later, Pel proposed a toast to profit, to forestall going to bed with Quark. (DS9: "Rules of Acquisition")
- Also that year, Martus Mazur toasted Roana whom he called "the queen of the Promenade." (DS9: "Rivals")
- Later, Quark proposed a toast to the memory of Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir, who were believed to have died. (DS9: "Armageddon Game")
- Later that year Quark proposed yet another toast, to Vulcans, upon commencement of his business dealings with Sakonna. (DS9: "The Maquis, Part I")
- In 2371, Neelix and Kes proposed a toast to "the adventure" with Talaxian champagne, soon after they'd joined the USS Voyager crew. (VOY: "The Gift")
- Quark produced a bottle of Chateau Cleon [[2303 to toast celebrate Benjamin Sisko's promotion to captain. (DS9: "The Adversary")
- In 2372, Sisko toasted success to Lenara Kahn in the creation of the galaxy's first artificial wormhole. (DS9: "Rejoined")
- Not long after, when Chakotay was captured by the Kazon-Nistrim, Seska drank a toast to old times with enemy's blood. (VOY: "Maneuvers")
- Later that year, Bashir and O'Brien drank a toast to the memory of Clive, a holographic RAF pilot who was killed in action. (DS9: "Homefront")
- Some time after, the pair toasted the announcement of Keiko's second pregnancy (DS9: "Accession")
- In 2373, Jor Brel made a toast to Captain Janeway and her crew for bringing him and his fellow Enarans home. (VOY: "Remember")
- That same year, after the Voyager returned to the 24th century having been to 1996, Captain Kathryn Janeway summoned the ship's crew to the mess hall and offered the toast, "Cheers! To the future!" (VOY: "Future's End, Part II")
- Weeks later, Q brought champagne to Janeway's quarters in an attempt to woo her and offered the toast, "To us." Janeway, however, replied that there was no "us". (VOY: "The Q and the Grey")
- In 2374, Bashir and O'Brien toasted "retaking the castle", i.e. Deep Space as the objective of Operation Return. (DS9: " Favor the Bold")
- Near the end of the year, Ahni Jetal was toasted at her birthday party aboard Voyager. (VOY: "Latent Image")
- In 2375, the Species 8472 Boothby replicant toasted Earth with a two-hundred-year old single malt whisky after capturing Chakotay. (VOY: "In the Flesh")
- Soon after, Kashyk was keen to find a beverage to toast his and Janeway's success in locating an intermittent cyclical vortex, but couldn’t as the replicator in his quarters had been deactivated. (VOY: "Counterpoint")
- Later in 2375, Kai Winn Adami toasted Dukat (who was posing as Anjohl Tennan, though Winn was meanwhile aware of his true identity) with a poisoned drink as a sacrifice for the Pah-wraiths. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
- Later that same year, after finding a cure for the morphogenic virus, Bashir toasted aging gracefully, a reference to the older O'Brien, who responded with a toast to Odo. Lastly, Bashir acknowledged O'Brien's assistance by toasting him.(DS9: "Extreme Measures")
- Weeks later, Sisko and Admiral Ross refused a toast of blood wine with Martok on the surface of Cardassia Prime. They noted that, despite their great victory in the Dominion War, so much Cardassian loss of life gave them no cause for celebration. (DS9: "What You Leave Behind")
- In 2376, with the success of the Pathfinder Project, as Reginald Barclay succeeded in establishing contact with Voyager, the Voyager crew made a toast to Barclay, celebrating his feat, while Barclay and Deanna Troi made a private toast in Barclay's apartment back on Earth. (VOY: "Pathfinder")
- In 2378, Seven of Nine gave a toast at B'Elanna Torres' baby shower, even including a joke at the end. (VOY: "Human Error")
- In 2377, Chakotay and Tuvok drank a toast to awakenings with Vulcan brandy, after the Maquis aboard Voyager had undergone Vulcan mind melds which had caused them to mutiny. (VOY: "Repression")
- In 2378, the senior staff of Voyager toasted to their long journey and accomplishments through the Delta Quadrant after the future Admiral Kathryn Janeway had arrived on board. (VOY: "Endgame")
- In 2379, the senior staff of the USS Enterprise-E toasted Data, who had sacrificed himself in order to save the ship. (Star Trek Nemesis) That toast, specifically "To absent friends," is the same toast Kirk gave in Spock's memory, nearly one hundred years prior. (Star Trek Nemesis)
- In an alternate timeline, Harry Kim, as the best man at the wedding of Tom Paris and Kes, attempted to give the toast, but was so nervous that he spilled champagne all over Paris' dress uniform. (VOY: "Before and After")
In another alternate timeline, Nog fulsomely toasted Jake Sisko and Korena. (DS9: "The Visitor")