Origin of "Here's looking at you"?

Posted by Terry Gaus on October 21, 2003

In Reply to: Origin of "Here's looking at you"? posted by hiro on October 21, 2003

This phrase is actually a toast that originated around the fights that occurred in the pubs of old. It was commonplace for a patron to wait until his adversary was drinking from their stein of ale (and their vision was therefore blocked by the stein) to attack ... it bettered their odds of success. Tis led to the development of the glass-bottomed stein in which the drinker could keep the other patrons in their vision even when drinking.

Thus came the toast "Here's looking at you"

: hi,

: I'm wondering about the orgin of the phrase "here's looking at you, kid", which is a famous line by Hamphry Bogart in a popular film, "Casablanca".

: In japan, the line is translated into Japanese like "Cheers to your eyes".
: And almost all people in Japan thinks the phrase "here's looking..." is created for the film based on English common phrases used in drinking toast like "Here is luck to you" or "here is a health to you".
: But recently, I heard in a Casablanca DVD commentary, that the line is a common phrase used in a card(porker) game playing.
: Is this true?

: P.S. I'm Japanese, and English-learner.So if any mistakes in my writing, please ignore it...

• Origin of hiro 22/October/03