Over the weekend, I went to a Christmas cocktail party and, of course, there were shots being poured. And as most people know, when alcohol is being consumed, the drinkers of said alcohol often ‘toast’ prior to the actual consumption. One of the attendees was happily explaining that he knew how to say ‘Cheers’ in six different languages and that he was trying to learn as many as possible. That’s when I decided to, once again, tell the story of ‘el pay’. The next day I realized how many times I had told that story, and how many of my friends now use the term ‘el pay’ (especially when I’m around, I’m sure) to ‘toast’. Obviously, now that I’ve got this blog, the only logical thing to do is to write out the story for the rest of the world to read. Here we go:

*This starts off with a sad aspect, but ultimately, the memory is a positive one in my mind.

The last time I got to hang out with my Grandpa was over a Winter break while I was attending Chico State. He had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and was in hospice at my parents’ house. My Grandpa was known to be a great joke teller, lots of fun, and knower of a wealth of stories, with which he had a knack for telling. The night before I was scheduled to head back up to Chico, we sat, just he and I, and shot the shit. It was very cool, and we covered a ton of subjects….from religion to U.F.O.’s. At one point, he asked me to get the bottle of Jagermeister out of the freezer and grab two shot glasses. I expressed my concern asking whether or not it was a good idea that he drink anything and he assured me there was a method to his madness. He told me to pour a shot for myself and a ‘taste’ for him. Once the shots were poured he told me that a long time ago, when he was living in Germany, he worked delivering beer (yes, people got cases of beer delivered to thier houses, like people used to get milk delivered). He said that among some of his friends that spoke Plattdeutsch, they had a ‘cheers’ that had since dissapeared from the common terms said at drinking festivities. He told me that they used to say “EL PAY” and that it meant ‘let it pour’, and with that we bumped glasses and drank. He said he wanted to pass the term along to me, as he saw me as the ‘light of the family’. He explained that he meant that as; he saw me as the social, joke-telling person that brought smiles to people’s faces at our family gatherings…and I happened to enjoy the occasional drink. Needless to say, I was and have been more than honored to have been passed this bit of imformation. Over the years, I have, in turn, passed the ‘el pay’ and the story to many of my close friends in honor of my Grandpa… and now to whoever should happen upon this blog. So next time you’re pouring a drink with friends, feel free to click glasses and say “el pay”.

*I talked to my Dad who since informed me that the reason this term sounds so ‘un-German’ is that it is actually an abreviation and “el pay” is for the letters ‘L’ and ‘P’. The full expresion is ‘Lotet Poltern’ which litterally means, ‘Let it pour’.

Peace,
zOnk.oNe

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