I sneeze “Atchoo!”, as do my English and Commonwealth friends. My wife and my boss (both Chinese - and meant here to signify different people) sneeze “Ha Chi!” Now it’s hardly a coincidence that “da ha chi” is the Cantonese phrase for ‘sneeze’, nor that English nursery ryhmes feature such words as "‘a-tisshoo’.
So, are we on to something? Does sneezing represent the tip of the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, whereby language controls or influences (depending on whether you hold the strong form of the hypopthesis, or not) what you think? Do people from different cultures and languages make a vocalisation that matches their lexical item for the action performed, as it is being performed? Fascinating stuff.
So, what do you “say” when - ‘when’ as in ‘as’ - you sneeze; and is it your langauge’s word for ‘sneeze’, or a corruption thereof?
I work for a company that does translations. My coworkers all speak one of about 15 different major languages. I actually have noticed people sneeze differently by language-- and this goes for other “non word” utterances. Different sounds for an English speakers’ use of “Hmm” or “Umm”, for example.
I’ve been made fun of for my “cat sneezes” - just rapidfire: “chuh! chuh! chuh! chuh! chuh! chuh!” I make another weird noise, but I don’t know how to even begin to describe it. It’s not english; it might be alien. Something like: “huehnyeh!” :dubious: Yeah, that’ll have to do.
However, if I’m thinking about it, and am in the company of people who would appreciate it, I will purposely say “AWSHIT!” But I don’t think that counts.
When I sneeze, people three blocks away drop things and stumble. If I sneeze in my own language, it is rather uniquely my own. Phonetically I think it comes forth as hrithschnah!
I don’t think my sneezes mean anything to anyone, in any language. Same with my “um” sound, I just make a generic droning “uhhhh…”. And when I stub my toe I don’t yell “ow”, but instead let fly a loud, elongated schwa. “Eeeaaaaghhh!”
Maybe it’s a result of growing up bilingual. I dunno which sounds to use
My sneeze these days is more of a grunt (“hrugh-chhoo”), likely only semi-conscious over-correction for what my mother says used to be a very feminine hat-chee. Evidence so far is in your favor, roger.
What a coincidence! I just sneezed about 15 times for no reason that I know of. And they were simple, grab the Kleenex, sneezes with no embellishment or language attached.
There was a woman I worked with who had a somewhat fake sneeze that she seemed to think was cute…I always wanted to strangle her as it was so obviously over-dramatized.
My wife is Korean and her sneezes sound like a chirpy little “kim-chee.”
Nah, just kidding.
She lets go with a big ol’
WAAAH-CHUUH! that startles the crap out of me. How such a loud sound comes out of this petite woman I’ll never know. She always says “sorry” after she sneezes and she sees me clutching my chest.
I have a photic sneeze reflex so I tend to sneeze quite a lot, generally at least three or four times a day. It usually comes out as a sort of “AAAH-CHAH!” but sometimes I don’t vocalise the “AAAH” part and just kind of tense up for a second or two. I’m not sure which of the examples in the OP that’s closest to.
My Mum does a similar thing, except when she feels a sneeze coming, she actually says the word “atchoo” quietly several times, as if she’s trying to convince herself that she has actually sneezed without going through the inconvenience of doing it for real.
The word “atchoo” does fill a purpose. When I feel a sneeze be on its way, I usually tily my head backwards and inhale air: “ah… ah… ah…”. Then when I sneeze, i let it out with a “Choo!”. The “ch”-sound is a splosive sound, which lets out the air that you build up with your "ah"s. The “O”, of course, is your mouth being open to let out the goo out of your system.
The way a sneezing sound is usually written in Spanish is “achís” or “atchís”. I usually go “ah… hm… hmmmmmmm! CHIS!” (the hmm is from trying to hold it). Mom is more along the lines of “ah, ah, AAAAH… CHIS! ACHIS! ACHIS!”, bros are “ah-CHOO!” and “ah, uhm, at, ah, at-CHOO!”
For some unknown reason, several of the coworkers I have right now hate sneezing; they try to keep their mouths closed and whatnot. One of them sneezes with his mouth closed (looks painful to me) and sounds “ch-ho!” to me.
My father sneezed with a particular sound unlike any other I’ve heard. It seemed to have a Slavic edge to it, and my father was raised bilingual, so I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a language portion to our sneezes.
Oddly, AHunter3’s rendering comes pretty close. My dad’s sounded more like “Haaaa-RITTTTHHHHH–schiaaaa!”
My sneezes are just unintelligible garble: GAHZHXBBBRRRTTHEHAH!!! Always followed by a “whoa” as my synapses reassemble. None of those wimpy articulated sneezes for me.
I have noticed that the French say “Eeuuh” instead of “Ummm”.
When I was a kid I decided I wanted to be a jungle commando, so I practiced learning to sneeze almost silently by making a sneeze silencer out of my fist. I subsequently thought better of my vocational choice, but still sneeze quietly.
The last time one caught me by surprise, though, it was a standard english “Achoo.”
