Tamada
The toastmaster who leads a Georgian feast, deciding the order of toasts.
Also: toastmaster, tamada
The tamada is the person chosen to lead a Georgian supra: a man or, increasingly, a woman known for wit, wisdom and the ability to drink and speak well. He proposes each toast and develops it into a short speech, and the table drinks when he says so. At a wedding the tamada will give toasts to the couple, to their parents and to the ancestors, and to the love of the families. The role is also found in Armenia and Azerbaijan, under the same name or the equivalent.
Region: Central Asia and the Caucasus