# Atheists: When someone sneezes, do you say... **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 8, 2016, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514 "2016-01-08T18:49:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![AtomicDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ac91a4/32.png) [@AtomicDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AtomicDog)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/41 "2016-01-09T03:34:28Z")
Nothing. Why should I? ---
**Author:** ![DrForrester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8edcca/32.png) [@DrForrester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrForrester)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/42 "2016-01-09T03:50:28Z")
If I sneeze, unexpectedly, I will say, “Excuse Me”. If someone else sneezes, I rarely say anything at all. If the sneeze was protracted or especially violent, I might say, “Are you OK?” Everyone else in the office says, “Bless You” like it’s some weird competition. One sneeze does not require 7 or 8 "Bless You"s. Honestly, it’s just silly after a certain point. When I have done something especially unfortunate, I confess that I will often scowl and loudly exclaim, “Shatner!” I have ignored the god of your choice since 1970. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/43 "2016-01-09T04:04:20Z")
My family never made ritual note of sneezes. So one day, after he had entered kindergarten, my eldest sneezed. After a pause, he told me that I was supposed to bless him. I asked him why and he said, “Because if you don’t I have to say excuse me.” This seemed logically sound, so I started blessing sneezes. About five years ago I started also blessing burps and farts, on the basis that I couldn’t see why sneezes should get all the love. My family is used to it. Strangers are sometimes startled. ---
**Author:** ![Rushgeekgirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rushgeekgirl/32/3715_2.png) [@Rushgeekgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rushgeekgirl)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/44 "2016-01-09T04:05:25Z")
Bless you. Not only is it a tradition, my mama told me never trust anyone who doesn’t say it so now I can’t help but feel like I must say it in order to be trustworthy. Silly I know, but it’s just a habit. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/45 "2016-01-09T05:22:19Z")
> [@brainstall](#): > > Non-religious, but I say “Bless you”, anyway. As others have said, it’s the polite thing to do. > > At my office, you’ll get a bless you for the first or second sneeze, but if you keep it up, someone will say, “Shut Up!”. Around here, a third sneeze gets you a “Now you’re just looking for attention!” ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 6:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/46 "2016-01-09T06:24:15Z")
I say nothing at least 90% of the time. On the rare occasions when I feel moved to say something, I go with “Gesundheit.” ---
**Author:** ![ThisSpaceForRent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thisspaceforrent/32/345_2.png) [@ThisSpaceForRent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThisSpaceForRent)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/47 "2016-01-09T06:44:30Z")
> [@bibliophage](#): > > I say nothing at least 90% of the time. On the rare occasions when I feel moved to say something, I go with “Gesundheit.” another vote for nothing ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 7:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/48 "2016-01-09T07:19:10Z")
I’m an Atheist and I say nothing. It’s a sneeze; nobody needs to say anything about it, and calling attention to it is, frankly, a tiny bit tasteless. ---
**Author:** ![campp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/49 "2016-01-09T11:55:55Z")
Sometimes I mutter “Nothing happens when you die” ---
**Author:** ![DrumBum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e79b87/32.png) [@DrumBum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrumBum)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/50 "2016-01-09T16:52:08Z")
Te abençoe is a formal response. Santino is more common. ---
**Author:** ![Locrian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/locrian/32/14146_2.png) [@Locrian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Locrian)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/51 "2016-01-09T17:42:39Z")
I voted Gesundheit. I feel wishing people good health is much more important than supporting a failed storybook. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/52 "2016-01-09T17:57:03Z")
I’m a pagan. I say nothing, same as I do when someone hiccups, burps or farts. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2016, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/53 "2016-01-09T19:08:11Z")
“Would you like a handkerchief?” ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2016, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/54 "2016-01-11T03:32:37Z")
I also usually say nothing. However if someone looks to me expecting me to say something I’ll say “curse you, or whatever the fuck your stupid religion requires” ---
**Author:** ![SpyOne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/82dd89/32.png) [@SpyOne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpyOne)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/55 "2016-01-12T03:53:01Z")
Not an atheist, but gesundheit is my word of choice. My family used them interchangeably when I was growing up, but “bless you” feels a little more natural to me. It was one of a variety of phrases that reference one religion or another that turn up in normal conversation. “That’s bad karma”, “don’t tempt fate”, “bless you”, and “thank heaven” should all just reflect our culture, and tell you nothing about the religious beliefs of the speaker. But then the zealots went and ruined it. When I was young, it seemed that saying “bless you” after someone sneezed was just a thing that people said, with no heavy religious subtext (beyond the subtext that a lot of our ancestors were some flavor of Christian, and a lot of little things in our culture reflect that). Then certain people decided that they should say “bless you” to people for other things, and say stupid things like “have a blessed day”. Basically looking for a way to stick “I’m a very religious person” into conversation any chance they get. (BTW: The bible talks about this kind of person, and very politely essentially calls them assholes. Don’t make a show of how faithful you are.) I read a bit by a Dane (from Denmark) talking about how different parts of the world view things differently, and how in America it isn’t unusual to have someone wear a shirt that says “I love Jesus”, and how in Scandinavia this would make people uncomfortable, because it is perilously close to asking “Do You?”. and that kind of question if far too personal. You don’t make public declarations of your religion because you don’t ask strangers about their religion. That sounds a lot like the way I was raised. People who ask “Have you found Jesus” make my skin crawl, because that is WAY too personal a question to ask a stranger. So I don’t say “Bless you” because I don’t want someone to mistake me for one of “them”. ---
**Author:** ![Ignotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/ecc23a/32.png) [@Ignotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignotus)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/56 "2016-01-12T13:36:01Z")
_Prosit!_ is the traditional response in Sweden. It’s actually Latin (= _may it help_) and probably once had some superstitious reason, but nobody really cares today anyway. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/57 "2016-01-12T14:23:20Z")
I say _Salud!_, as **Frodo** said (I picked that up in Spanish class) or “God Bless You”. But I’m an agnostic, not an atheist. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/58 "2016-01-12T15:51:12Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I say “[Didja Get Any Onya?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFWiJAYmADQ)” One of my favorite roommates used to say that, ha! It really depends on the situation. I often won’t say anything, but if something’s called for, i just say “bless you”. Though I don’t have a god, I would hope that the sneezer’s god does rain blessings upon them whenever appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![control-z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/eada6e/32.png) [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/59 "2016-01-12T16:27:30Z")
Nothing here as well. ---
**Author:** ![maxjohnson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/90db22/32.png) [@maxjohnson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/maxjohnson)\ **Post date:** [January 12, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514/60 "2016-01-12T16:45:13Z")
I don’t say anything, unless it’s a harsh one or they seem sick, then I may say “Damn are you alright?” or “The allergy must be getting to you.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/atheists-when-someone-sneezes-do-you-say/742514.md?page=4)