# Do you bless strangers that sneeze? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 31, 2003, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463 "2003-03-31T16:00:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/21 "2003-03-31T20:21:51Z")
_Why_ is it polite to call attention to someone’s embarrassing body noises? Why do we not say “Bless you” when someone coughts? ---
**Author:** ![dwc1970](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a183cd/32.png) [@dwc1970](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dwc1970)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/22 "2003-03-31T20:57:47Z")
I never say anything to a person who sneezes. As others have said, what’s the point in verbally acknowledging that someone has sneezed? Likewise, I am mildly irritated and embarrassed by people who say it to me. It’s like, “so I sneezed, big deal!” I’m always embarrassed by things such as sneezing (which to me is almost as bad as farting in public in that I can’t really control it, even though everyone else does it). For this reason I try to stifle my sneezes, even if doing so means being dizzy for 4-5 seconds. If it’s a friend, family member or co-worker and he or she sneezes several times in rappid succession I’ll ask, “are you okay?” but this is about as far as I ever take it. ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/23 "2003-03-31T22:20:37Z")
I absolutely hate it when people say “bless you” to me after a sneeze. I especially hate it when my boss does it, because she says it so quickly and loudly that it calls way too much attention to it, and I have to say “Thank You” before I’ve even recovered from the sneeze. Since I’m a sequential sneezer, the second one is on its way and I’m in the “ah, ah” stage while she’s waiting for me to acknowledge the “bless you”. I prefer to say “excuse me” after I sneeze. After all, I’m the one who has just spewed germs all over the room…if anything, I should be apologizing, not saying “thank you” to every blessed “bless you”. And for the record, I am a religious woman raised in a family that never said “bless you” for sneezes. I really wish people would just ignore me when I sneeze, like I ignore them when they sneeze. ---
**Author:** ![Searching\_For\_Truth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Searching\_For\_Truth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Searching_For_Truth)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/24 "2003-03-31T22:30:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\*Why do we not say “Bless you” when someone coughts? \*\* Heh, heh. Well…I, for one, actually do. It makes me feel better, for some inane reason. Not like it actually _helps_ them, but still. Friend: coughs…proceeds to hack up a lung… Me: Are you ok? Bless you or something. People laugh, say thanks, and smile or pat my head. I don’t sit around and wait for them to say ‘thanks’ or ‘excuse me’ the way **kittenblue** ’s boss seems to. That’s a little absurd. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2003, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/25 "2003-03-31T23:37:50Z")
If I’m actually in conversation with the person or something, I say _Gesundheit._. I actually don’t like it when strangers say _Gesundheit_ or “bless you” when I sneeze in a public space, or when somebody shouts it from the next room over, because it makes me feel like I’ve disturbed them and I feel bad. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/26 "2003-04-01T00:21:26Z")
To friends and coworkers, yes, if they’re in earshot. (This includes the woman in the office next to mine.) To strangers, yes, if they’re within ten feet or so of me. (If someone were at the other end of the supermarket aisle, I wouldn’t, but if he or she were in front of me in line, I would.) It’s habit, a courtesy. I personally feel kind of miffed if I sneeze and no one says anything. ---
**Author:** ![grettle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/aeb1de/32.png) [@grettle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/grettle)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/27 "2003-04-01T00:24:15Z")
Thanks **Kn\*ckers** for the old custom reminder. I had no idea that people thought sneezes were “annoying bodily functions” to be compared with stinky ones like burps or farts, or that the “Bless you” actually seemed like it had religious connotations. Very interesting indeed. . . ---
**Author:** ![BuckleberryFerry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/5f9b8f/32.png) [@BuckleberryFerry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BuckleberryFerry)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2003, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/28 "2003-04-01T00:45:02Z")
RE: the OP Yes, I diddly-doodly-do! ---
**Author:** ![Washte](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/dc4da7/32.png) [@Washte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Washte)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/29 "2003-04-02T14:35:01Z")
Yes. Be it the person on the bus next to me, a co-worker or someone walking down the street. They all get blessed. It often makes them smile as well. Why not brighten someone’s day and be polite at the same time? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/30 "2003-04-02T16:30:34Z")
Yes, if there close enough that I can say it conversationally and not have to raise my voice. I also say it for belches to close friends and family. That started as sarcasm, but now I can’t stop. Like **Washt** I find that blessing strange sneezes often brings a smile, therefore it can’t be bad. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/31 "2003-04-02T16:31:05Z")
Yes, if there close enough that I can say it conversationally and not have to raise my voice. I also say it for belches to close friends and family. That started as sarcasm, but now I can’t stop. Like **Washte** I find that blessing strange sneezes often brings a smile, therefore it can’t be bad. ---
**Author:** ![Leifsmama](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a698b9/32.png) [@Leifsmama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leifsmama)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/32 "2003-04-02T16:34:03Z")
Damn, sorry **Washte**. I tried to fix it before it posted. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/33 "2003-04-02T16:56:04Z")
Yes I do. And I appreciate when others say it to me. ---
**Author:** ![av8rmike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/edb3f5/32.png) [@av8rmike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/av8rmike)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/34 "2003-04-02T17:24:54Z")
I say “Gesundheit” as well. I don’t think I’m actually blessing them if I do say “bless you” anyway. And what about multiple sneezers? Do you have to bless them several times, or just one time at the end? ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2003, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463/35 "2003-04-03T13:48:23Z")
No. I don’t believe in this Satan nonsense. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-bless-strangers-that-sneeze/165463.md?page=1)