How ‘Toast’ Became Synonymous With Pithy Speeches, Clinking Glasses and Consuming Alcohol

Using a clever compilation of a variety of films, GeoBeats explained how the word “toast” became associated with pithy speeches and clinking glasses. According to an informative Today I Found Out video, the term came from a tradition of placing spiced bread into the wine in order to soak up the acidity and improve the flavor.

…placing a piece of toast within a jug was supposed to soak up some of the acidity and improve the flavour. This also had the side benefit of giving people something to do with a piece of stale bread, often spiced or with fruit embedded, that would improve the bread’s palatability.

Of course Sheldon Cooper (and Priya Koothrappali) from The Big Bang Theory already knew about that fun little fact.