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“Nazdar” or “nazdárek” is often used in spoken language today. One would not greet each other in this way for official matters, not even for work between employees of different positions. One would have to be by “you”, otherwise it sounds impolite.
The greeting “Nazdar!” Was born during the construction of the National Theater in Prague. National patriotic Czechs fought for the creation of the stage and collected money for it. On the donation boxes with which they went through the city, it read: “Na zdar Národního divadla.” (For the benefit of the national theater). “Na zdar” quickly became a single word that came into circulation as a common greeting.
Boy scouts, soldiers and athletes
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The members of the Czech gymnastics federation “Sokol” also began to say “nazdar”. The Prague Sokol Association even had these words sewn onto its banner. The salute became famous during the First World War, when one of the companies with Czech volunteers just called itself Nazdar. This company formed the framework of the Czechoslovak legions in France and took part, for example, in the victorious battle of Arras on May 9, 1915. As a result, the greeting prevailed among the Czech scouts and soldiers. In the army, the command “Vojáci, nazdar!” Is followed by a collective “Zdar!”. Some footballers greet each other in a similar way before the game starts, but now almost only in lower leagues.
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