A long time ago, or when there are a lot of persons on the table again, We would say "Buen provecho". That would translate to something among the lines of "Good digestion".

Now i just eat some chocolate before eating my only meal of the day, while cooking, and say nothing, because fuck everybody I ate dessert first....

In Persain it's said "Noushe Jan" نوش جان when people are eating together. It literally means something along "Enjoy the meal". Some people say "Besmellah" which is actually an Arabic phrase to Start in the name of God.

In Turkish "Afiyet olsun" Which almost means "Staying healthy". The word "afiyet" has also Arabic roots. Persians use a similar phrase too... but when someone sneezes!! ;D

The cultures are very similar after all so the words have gotten mixed into different languages.

Rub a dub dub, thanks for the grub.

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we say " Khane ke liye sukriya" in Hindi . it would translate to " thanks for the food". 🙂

hey

It has already been mentioned that in Greece we say 'Kali oreksi' (the 'i' pronounced as the 'ea' in 'sea'), I just want to add that it means 'Good appetite'. Also when you go to eat at someone else's house it's common for the host to say 'kalos irthate' or 'kalos orisate' which means 'welcome to our home' and the guests answering 'kalos sas vrikame' which means 'well met'.

"Dobrou chuť" in Czech. Means shortened version of "wish you a delicious meal" or simply "Enjoy your meal" ^^

I don't know how to say that in Brazilian Portuguese? Some people pray (similar to "thanks for the food", I guess), others say "bom apetite" (like bon appetit), but it doesn't carry the same meaning as "itadakimasu", does it? It's not a ritual or something that everybody does... I don't know.

"Bon profit" in Catalan.

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Not sure if it counts but there's a nursery rhyme in Germany which families with children like to chant before eating. People usually hold hands while saying the following lines:

"Piep, piep, piep.
Wir haben uns alle lieb.
Jeder isst, was er kann,
nur nicht seinen Nebenmann."

They roughly translate to

"Tweet, tweet, tweet.
We all love each other.
Everyone eats as much as he can
but not his neighbour."

[color=#8A795D]"Stories are what death thinks he puts an end to.
He can't understand that they end in him, but they don't end with him."

• Ursula K. Le Guin, Gifts[/color]

To be savoured:

• Blood Alone by TAKANO Masayuki
• Otoyomegatari by MORI Kaoru
• Gangsta. by Kohske
• Seishun Kouryakuhon by AKIZUKI Sorata

In Denmark you don´t say anything before eating, but you say "Tak for Mad" (Thanks for the food) after.

Tripitaka, that's extremely cute!

In br portuguese is something like "Bom apetite" or "Obrigado pela comida" but actually most people don't say anything at all before starting eating.

In Spanish : Buen Provecho!

I think it's misleading when ppl say "bon appetit" here.
Bon appetit is when a person say to another person to enjoy the food. It means that the OTHER person should enjoy the food. which is different meaning than "thanks for the meal"

for example, if i was late for dinner and mom prepared me dinner and i'm eating by myself, i would not say "bon appetit" that would be weird. but my mom would tell me "bon appetit"
on the other hand, for the same example i can say itadakimasu. but it'll be really weird if my mom was to say "itadakimasu" when she's not eating.

Though not so many people do it these days 🤣
The only ones I always does this were the Japanese and Koreans (based on observation 🙄 )
Anyways, below is the only language I recall of saying "itadakimasu"

In Chinese:
食福 (chia̍h hok) - Eat well, enjoy good food
食卡飽 (chia̍h kah pá) - Eat till satisfied
食氣 (chia̍h khì) - Eat up

In English:
(some would say "let's dig in") 🤣

In Filipino / Tagalog:
"Tayo'y magsikain (formal)" way of inviting people to eat, when you're about to eat...
"Kainan na!" (informal) - Let's eat

In Italian:
Buon appetito!

In Korean:
잘 먹겠습니다 (jal meokkesseumnida) - before a meal
잘 먹었습니다 (jal meogeosseumnida) - after a meal
맛있게 드세요 (masitkke deuseyo)

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