# Bless you, my son, for you have sneezed **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 16, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465 "2008-12-16T22:27:42Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![filmyak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/94ad74/32.png) [@filmyak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmyak)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/21 "2008-12-17T17:42:54Z")
OK, good to know that (in this case only) the whole world hasn’t gone crazy, just some of us have had bogus manners shoved done our sneeze holes. I like the thought posted above that an “unblessed” sneeze hangs in the air like a sentence without a period. Good analogy. My wife hates it that I don’t respond, but for me, logic trumps Catholic tradition anytime. =) ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/22 "2008-12-17T17:53:14Z")
Some people get really embarrassed when they sneeze in public, it’s great to embarrass them further by saying “Bless you!”. FWIW in Irish it’s “Dia Linn” (Dee-yah Lynn) which is “God be with us” or something similar. ---
**Author:** ![Kizarvexius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/da6949/32.png) [@Kizarvexius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kizarvexius)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/23 "2008-12-17T17:56:11Z")
I’ve lived in North Carolina, California, Indiana, and Texas, and in my experience a post-sneeze benediction, even to a stranger, is considered good manners. Like uttering an apology upon colliding with someone. I say “bless you” when I hear a sneeze, and rarely give it a second thought. ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/24 "2008-12-17T17:59:58Z")
> [@filmyak](#): > > I like the thought posted above that an “unblessed” sneeze hangs in the air like a sentence without a period. Good analogy. My wife hates it that I don’t respond, but for me, logic trumps Catholic tradition anytime. =) Except if it has a religion tinge to it, it is only in English and other languages, and certainly not European, as was stated by speakers of other languages (German, Spanish and French). And to that, in Portuguese (at least in Brazil), they say “saúde” (same as salud in Spanish). Says someone who grew up in a sort of Catholic tradition, and says “salud” and doesn’t understand the “bless you” ---
**Author:** ![Rico](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rico/32/3582_2.png) [@Rico](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rico)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/25 "2008-12-17T18:43:42Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > \ \ > \ \ > \ \ \ \ ---
**Author:** ![puppygod](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@puppygod](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puppygod)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/26 "2008-12-17T18:55:55Z")
> [@KarlGrenze](#): > > Except if it has a religion tinge to it, it is only in English and other languages, and certainly not European, as was stated by speakers of other languages (German, Spanish and French). And to that, in Portuguese (at least in Brazil), they say “saúde” (same as salud in Spanish). > > Says someone who grew up in a sort of Catholic tradition, and says “salud” and doesn’t understand the “bless you” Add Polish to “not-religion” list. They say “na zdrowie” (“for health”). ---
**Author:** ![PoorYorick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ecccb3/32.png) [@PoorYorick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PoorYorick)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/27 "2008-12-17T19:04:04Z")
> [@even\_sven](#): > > There is something maddeningly incomplete about a sneeze on its own. My stepson is an atheist, and when his two-year-old daughter sneezes, he says “Farfegnugen!” I think it’s supposed to be a joke. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465/28 "2008-12-17T19:28:50Z")
The reason I heard about the Christian blessing was that somebody got the idea in their head that demons could enter your nose after a vicious sneeze, or something to that effect. If somebody more in-the-know could come along and clarify, that would be super. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bless-you-my-son-for-you-have-sneezed/477465.md?page=1)