# Poll: Saying "excuse me" after sneezing **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 16, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702 "2015-11-16T15:52:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![AllShookDown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d9b06d/32.png) [@AllShookDown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AllShookDown)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/1 "2015-11-16T15:52:03Z")
The person I sit next to at work always says “excuse me” after she sneezes. Now, I was brought up with a lot of manners, including but not limited to please, thank you, no thank you, cover your mouth when you yawn, hold the door open for the person behinds you, elbows off the table, chew with your mouth closed, excuse me (if someone’s blocking your way), etc., but I was only taught to excuse myself for the personal functions of burping and farting. Sneezing was not deemed offensive. When do you excuse yourself? ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/2 "2015-11-16T16:16:48Z")
I do that. It’s an attempt to be polite and also to hopefully head off the “bless you” responses by people around me. I think that while “bless you” is also now just a polite response, it’s based in ridiculous superstition. I read years ago that the practice started during one of the European plagues - people would say bless you in the hopes that being blessed would cause the plague to skip over you. I also feel kind of lame saying thank you when people bless me for sneezing since I don’t believe that being blessed will prevent me from getting the plague. But I feel rude for not thanking them, so I say “excuse me” so that I don’t seem to be rudely unresponsive to the people around me. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/3 "2015-11-16T16:25:50Z")
I don’t always say excuse me, but I do say it if the sneeze is particularly loud or I have just interrupted someone talking with my sneeze. I also wish “bless you” would go away. I have taken to saying “I only say bless you two times, if you sneeze again I assume it didn’t work and you are now possessed by the devil.” Um, with people who would get the joke, of course. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/4 "2015-11-16T19:02:00Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > I do that. It’s an attempt to be polite and also to hopefully head off the “bless you” responses by people around me. I think that while “bless you” is also now just a polite response, it’s based in ridiculous superstition. I read years ago that the practice started during one of the European plagues - people would say bless you in the hopes that being blessed would cause the plague to skip over you. > > I also feel kind of lame saying thank you when people bless me for sneezing since I don’t believe that being blessed will prevent me from getting the plague. But I feel rude for not thanking them, so I say “excuse me” so that I don’t seem to be rudely unresponsive to the people around me. The myth I heard was the person has no control over himself at the moment of sneezing, so it’s a convenient time for the devil to sneak in. I say Bless You as a social convention too. To the question of the OP, I would try not to fart around people for whom I would need to say excuse me. Sneezing, coughing, loud blowing of my nose, or involuntary burping all get an Excuse Me, sneezing mostly because we are in a very quiet cubicle farm and I am excusing the disturbance. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/5 "2015-11-16T19:06:23Z")
I say excuse me. I never say bless you and I wish people would stop blessing me. I also never fart around anyone but very close friends or family. That’s why I get up from my desk and go for a “fart walk.” ---
**Author:** ![zweisamkeit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zweisamkeit/32/4360_2.png) [@zweisamkeit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zweisamkeit)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/6 "2015-11-16T19:42:01Z")
I often say “excuse me”, because it’s still a noisy disturbance to those around me, even if unintentional. I get the dislike of being told “(God) bless you”, but it’s essentially divorced from it’s original meaning. And some (a few? Many? Most? Who knows) think it’s rude _not_ to ‘acknowledge’ a sneeze. There are responses that fulfill the socially-expected response without being religious. I tend to say “gesundheit” (health), and it’s not uncommon around here. I like cultures that have multiple-sneeze responses, too! In French, it’s “à tes / vos souhaits” for the first sneeze, “à tes / vos amours” for the second and “qu’elles durent toujours” or “santé” for a third (to your wishes, to your loves, may they last forever). I also have seen and done, amongst family and friends, teasingly saying, “excuse YOU!”, especially for an extended sneezing fit or a particularly lound sneeze. Improvisation with the tones and emphasis is pretty common to tweak the teasing/joking intent. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2015, 8:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/7 "2015-11-16T20:38:07Z")
As long as I don’t actually spray snot on their shirt, I don’t bother with “excuse me”. I try to do the Dracula thing where I sneeze into my arm, but the presumption is that I have (limited) control over intestinal events but less over sneezes. Plus it’s easier to blame gaseous emissions on the dog. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/8 "2015-11-17T00:03:52Z")
I always say “excuse me,” because a sneeze is always somewhat of an interruption, if only of the other person’s daydreams. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/9 "2015-11-17T00:31:07Z")
I say excuse me. It fills the dead air afterward when clods stare at me with their mouths open, sporting an expression like they just chugged kaopectate, yet saying nothing. I’m thinking of changing it to, “Excuse me. Now Fuck Off…” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/10 "2015-11-17T01:24:08Z")
If I say it at all, it’s after burps. Because it’s something I intentionally did. Farting is also an intentional thing, but not something I’ll do in front of company. Sneezing is not under my control, so I feel no need to ask to be excused. I usually just make a sheepish face if acknowledgement seems necessary. Then they say “bless you” or “Good health” in German, and I either non-verbally or verbally thank them. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/11 "2015-11-17T01:25:20Z")
All of the above plus coughing. I figure any time you’re putting your bodily emissions into the air that people around you are breathing, you at least owe a little courtesy to them. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/12 "2015-11-17T01:29:35Z")
I said ‘never’ because I’ll say ‘sorry’ in those events. Excuse me is something I say to let people know they’re blocking my way, or sarcastically. ---
**Author:** ![JcWoman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jcwoman/32/2889_2.png) [@JcWoman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JcWoman)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/13 "2015-11-17T16:35:08Z")
Oh yeah, I also happen to be a cluster-sneezer. I usually interrupt people (who don’t know me very well) by sneezing in the middle of their “bless you”. Hubby sometimes makes me laugh with his alternatives to saying bless you. One he does alot is make a sign of the cross over me, as if he was a Catholic priest. Gets a giggle every time. He’ll also occasionally tell me “that’s enough outta you!”. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/14 "2015-11-17T17:34:39Z")
> [@JcWoman](#): > > Oh yeah, I also happen to be a cluster-sneezer. I usually interrupt people (who don’t know me very well) by sneezing in the middle of their “bless you”. > > Hubby sometimes makes me laugh with his alternatives to saying bless you. One he does alot is make a sign of the cross over me, as if he was a Catholic priest. Gets a giggle every time. He’ll also occasionally tell me “that’s enough outta you!”. My other half makes me laugh with silly things like this all the time. He is silly with no one but me. I firmly believe that us laughing together is going to keep us young and happy for a long, long time. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2015, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-saying-excuse-me-after-sneezing/737702/15 "2015-11-17T20:05:08Z")
When I finish a blast of sneezes, I look around and observe that everyone for a 2 block radius is now hanging from the light fixture with their hair standing out like porcupine quills and the items they were carrying lying in shattered piles on the floor below them; auto burglar alarms are going WAA WAAH up and down the street and the geologists over at the university have to recalibrate their seismic equipment. Yeah, I usually say “excuse me” and “sorry about that”.