Scythians were known to be great drinkers, and Ossetian ceremonies typically involve the generous consumption of alcohol through repeated toasts. Indeed, the Ossetian word kwyvd (куывд) means both “toast” and “prayer”

 A sample of the many interesting things to be found on A Canadian in Ossetia.

Via Languagehat (who offers some gentle linguistic correction).

Let it never be said that appalling '70s culture was solely an American phenomenon: the Russians could hold their own. Dschinghis really starts gettin' down around 2:26.