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I have come across the word "cheersing", with an "s", as opposed to what I believe to be the correct form: cheering.

I think it comes from a misguided verbification of the exclamation "cheers!", as in the plural of the noun "cheer".

However since there is already a corresponding verb, "to cheer", I don't see why anyone would need to force a plural noun into a progressive verbal form like "cheersing".

Besides, it's impossible to conjugate and hilarious to even try:
I cheers
you cheers
he cheerses
we cheers
you cheers
they cheers

Please tell me that cheersing is only a made up word.

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closed as not a real question by Mitch, jwpat7, Robusto, MετάEd, Marthaª Aug 1 '12 at 16:53


"I have come across the word 'cheersing', with an 's'..." ~ It's much easier to answer questions like this when you specify where you've come across the word. The question might be handled differently depending on where you saw it. Facebook? It might be a typo. Urban Dictionary? Maybe it's slang. The New York Times editorial page? Maybe it's a coined word by a creative writer. A scientific journal? Maybe it has some narrow use in a highly technical field. During a presidential debate? Maybe it's a play on words, or maybe it's a slip of the tongue. Provide context, please. – J.R. Aug 1 '12 at 13:40
"I think it comes from a misguided verbification of the exclamation "cheers!", as in the plural of the noun "cheer"." - why 'misguided'? – Random832 Aug 1 '12 at 14:49
@J.R.: good point. It appears in technical document about a job I am working on. In the document it refers to the "act of raising a glass". – tmslnz Aug 1 '12 at 16:01
This strikes me as griping disguised as a question. – MετάEd Aug 1 '12 at 16:48
@tmslnz Actually, yes it does. From the posting guidelines: “avoid asking subjective questions where … it is a rant disguised as a question: ——— sucks, am I right?” Thank you for asking. – MετάEd Aug 1 '12 at 16:56
up vote 5 down vote accepted

It's certainly not a word that I have come across, and I believe that it is not a real word.

That said, I have once heard someone say "we were cheers'ing all night in celebration".

That is, the pseudo-word "cheersing" describes the act of saying "Cheers!".

In addition, it's use is not prevalent in literature according to Google Ngram.

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I think it could only have a very specific use, say at a formal dinner with a succession of toasts. "We gave the Loyal Toast and drank the health of twenty others. We were cheersing all night!" – Andrew Leach Aug 1 '12 at 13:08
@AndrewLeach - I concur, entirely. – Ste Aug 1 '12 at 13:57
My son used to use this word when he was 5 or 6. All little kids become fascinating with toasting at some point. – Ernest Friedman-Hill Aug 1 '12 at 14:33

Looking in Google books, "cheersing" does not mean the same as "cheering". It's the act of raising a glass (or clinking a glass with somebody else) and saying "cheers".

In at least two of the roughly ten books you can see it in, someone uses it and somebody else says that it's not a real word. I would agree.

It also seems to be found in the past tense—"cheersed"—but not in the present.

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Yes, I was just posting something similar. – Matt E. Эллен Aug 1 '12 at 13:24
Note the Danish equivalent of "cheersing", the verb skåle, is indeed a real word. – Peter Shor Aug 1 '12 at 13:31
In that context, it would be obvious as to what the word means. So, I agree - it's not a real word but you can get away with it in that context. – Ste Aug 1 '12 at 13:56

The usual word in English for "cheersing" is "toasting". Instead of, "we cheersed him", one would normally say "we toasted him".

The usage is uncommon and appears to be a slang neologism or perhaps a nonce coinage by those unfamiliar with the word "toasting" in this sense.

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In my vocabulary, it doesn't mean quite the same thing as "toasting". "Toasting" is the act of raising a glass and saying "here's to John". American Heritage Dictionary agrees: The act of raising a glass and drinking in honor of or to the health of a person or thing. – Peter Shor Aug 1 '12 at 14:34
@PeterShor That's a very subtle distinction indeed, if there is one at all, and perhaps why the neologism arose. In my own experience that action would be called "toasting" whether one said "Here's to John", "Cheers", or "Cin cin". – Mark Beadles Aug 1 '12 at 14:38
that is indeed a subtle distinction, but I suspect it's the reason the not-yet-a-word "cheersing" was coined. – Peter Shor Aug 1 '12 at 14:39
Let me rephrase the distinction. I think that if you lift a glass in honor of something or somebody, you're "toasting", whether you say "here's to John" or "cheers". But if you clink glasses without it specifically being in honor of somebody or something, that's "cheersing". Of course, since I don't use the word "cheersing", I might be wrong. But I wouldn't use "toasting" for that action, either. – Peter Shor Aug 1 '12 at 18:20
