# Sneezing and "God Bless You"
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [June 19, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388 "2013-06-19T19:32:07Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/1 "2013-06-19T19:32:07Z")
Why do people reflexively say “God bless you” after you sneeze? What are you supposed to say back? If I sneeze at my desk in cubicle-town, and some unknown person a few cubes over yells “Bless you!”, am I supposed to yell back “Thank you!”?
What about the people who somehow stifle their sneezes (without popping out their eyes)? You know, a normal sneeze goes “Ah-Choo!”, and a stifiled sneeze goes “Ah-CH!” Since it was a half sneeze, do they still get the full blessing?
When you hear someone sneeze, and you are an Atheist, are you supposed to say something else?
Why the heck does anyone have to say anything after an audible bodily function? I don’t hear people blessing me when I cough, or burp, or fart. Why are sneezes so special?
Would it be OK to just ignore it, and not say anything at all?
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### Author:  [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/2 "2013-06-19T19:34:49Z")
It’s manners. I was raised that it’s the right thing to do. Madame Pepperwinkle, whose family comes from southern Kentucky, says, “Scat, Tom, your tail’s on fire!” instead. (I’m sure it’s a regionalism; I’ve never looked into its origins.)
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/3 "2013-06-19T19:59:45Z")
After his first week in kindergarten, my oldest son announced that I should bless him when he sneezed. I asked him why and he replied, “because if you don’t, I have to say excuse me.” I decided that was good enough and complied, at least for awhile.
In the last year I’ve started blessing other bodily emissions on the basis that it isn’t fair that sneezes should get all the love. I don’t do it to strangers because it puzzles even people who know me.
There are stories about people in olden times believing that your soul leaves your body for a second when you sneeze, but that may be an urban legend.
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### Author:  [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/4 "2013-06-19T20:05:35Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#):
>
> It’s manners. I was raised that it’s the right thing to do. Madame Pepperwinkle, whose family comes from southern Kentucky, says, “Scat, Tom, your tail’s on fire!” instead. (I’m sure it’s a regionalism; I’ve never looked into its origins.)
That’s the conclusion at [Snopes](http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.asp), too. They looked into it and decided that any other reason is lost to history. The earliest mention they found was 77 AD.
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### Author:  [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/5 "2013-06-19T20:09:22Z")
I’m an atheist and I say “Bless you!” 'cause manners, and it’s nice. I’m not saying _who_ should bless you. And I also bless my husband’s burps. Every once in a while I forget where I am and bless other people’s burps, which is embarrassing, so I don’t recommend taking up the practice.
My husband says “Gesundheit!” because he likes any excuse to say anything in another language (my theory). Our almost three-year-old informed him that he’s doing sneezes wrong, and he must say “Bless you!” like Mama does.
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### Author:  [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)
#### Post date: [June 19, 2013, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/6 "2013-06-19T20:14:45Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> If I sneeze at my desk in cubicle-town, and some unknown person a few cubes over yells “Bless you!”, am I supposed to yell back “Thank you!”?
I’ve been in the position to wonder that, too. I suppose most of us just try to remember if others have yelled the ‘thank you’…if so, then that’s the culture of that particular office.
It’s awkward. But then that’s the price we pay for having big brains. (For creatures with smaller brains these interactive rules are hard-wired in.)
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### Author:  [@dataguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dataguy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/7 "2013-06-20T00:12:53Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#):
>
> I’m an atheist and I say “Bless you!” 'cause manners, and it’s nice. I’m not saying _who_ should bless you. And I also bless my husband’s burps. Every once in a while I forget where I am and bless other people’s burps, which is embarrassing, so I don’t recommend taking up the practice.
>
> My husband says “Gesundheit!” because he likes any excuse to say anything in another language (my theory). Our almost three-year-old informed him that he’s doing sneezes wrong, and he must say “Bless you!” like Mama does.
I’m a Gesundheit guy, too. It’s not to show off, it’s because it’s wishing the person Good Health. I like this better than bless you because the origins of Bless You are rooted in a superstition that I don’t want to perpetuate. However, I do acknowledge the aspect of social manners and custom and Gesundheit serves that purpose just as well.
Also, like someone poster earlier, what’s so special about sneezes? We don’t bless people when they cough.
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### Author:  [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/8 "2013-06-20T01:25:24Z")
I don’t think it’s manners. I think it’s conditioning. And some rationalization to defend the conditioning.
I was in line to pay a cashier and in the next line over just across from me was a mom and her 6 year oldish girl. The girl farted and looked embarassed. I just looked at her, smiled and told her “That was a good one!”. I figure any time I can make a little boy or girl smile, I’m doing good.
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### Author:  [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 2:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/9 "2013-06-20T02:42:04Z")
I used to teach English in Japan, and my (adult) students sometimes asked me about this whole “bless you” thing. While they were polite about it, it was clear that they considered this quaint tradition of my foreign people to be pretty amusing. (I try to keep this in mind when I hear about things people do in other countries that seem odd to me.) I got a lot of questions similar to ones already raised in this thread – what is the sneezer supposed to say in response? What do you think will happen if people _don’t_ say “bless you” when you sneeze? How about if someone coughs, what do you say then? Can you say “[God] bless you” if you aren’t a Christian?
I answered as best I could, saying “Thank you” was an appropriate response, that most modern Westerners do not have superstitions about sneezing and “bless you” is just a polite stock phrase (Japanese has plenty of situation-specific polite stock phrases), that there is no stock phrase for when someone coughs, and that while it probably wasn’t a big deal either way then “Gesundheit” was also an acceptable thing to say that carried no religious connotations.
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### Author:  [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/10 "2013-06-20T03:33:32Z")
> [@snowthx](#):
>
> Why do people reflexively say “God bless you” after you sneeze? What are you supposed to say back?
You recoil, put your arm across your face and hiss back "The _worrrdddsss!_ They _burrrnnn!"_
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### Author:  [@corkboard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/corkboard)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/11 "2013-06-20T13:57:20Z")
I usually offer a “G’bless you” when someone around me sneezes, but I try to wait until I know they’re finished. I sneeze frequently, not because I’m sick a lot or have allergies (I do, but that’s not what causes the sneezing). I just sneeze. And when I do, I usually do it three or four times in a row. The people in my office, in the cubes outside my door or in offices down the hall, typically yell “bless you!” after each one. OK, I know they’re being polite, but honestly- it’s excessive. Just wait a few seconds to see if there’s another one- there usually is- and if you want to, then just offer me the blessing once. That way I’ll only have to ‘thank you’ once.
There’s a way to be \*over-\*polite, and my coworkers are often guilty of it.
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### Author:  [@Lightlystarched](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightlystarched)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/12 "2013-06-20T14:48:23Z")
I don’t like the whole reflexive “bless you” thing and wish it would go away. I really hate it when I’ve got students taking an exam and they are quiet and diligently working away. One student starts sneezing and 10 of them have to chorus “Bless you!”. Silent exams! No talking! Shhhh!
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### Author:  [@drewtwo99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewtwo99)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/13 "2013-06-20T14:50:39Z")
The proper response to someone sneezing of course is, “you are so good looking!”
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### Author:  [@Lanzy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lanzy)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/14 "2013-06-20T15:09:00Z")
When I sneeze and some says “bless you” I say thank you. They mean well. But if someone else sneezes I never say “bless you”, I just don’t. If no one else says “bless you” to them I have no idea what they think of me as no one has ever said anything to me. If my sneeze interrupts someone I will say “excuse me”, but normally just ignore myself.
I really don’t understand multiple “bless you’s” isn’t one enough?
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### Author:  [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/15 "2013-06-20T15:56:03Z")
I vaguely remember the genesis behind ‘bless you’ after you sneeze is because at one time it was believed one was susceptible to demonic possession when one sneezed.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/16 "2013-06-20T16:07:42Z")
> [@emmaliminal](#):
>
> My husband says “Gesundheit!” because he likes any excuse to say anything in another language (my theory).
I think that may be why my father always said “Gesundheit.” Now I say it because, well, it’s what I grew up with.
And, of course, the correct response to someone farting is “Come in!”
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### Author:  [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/17 "2013-06-20T16:09:55Z")
I wish this would go away too. People think you’re rude if you don’t say bless you!
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### Author:  [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/18 "2013-06-20T16:22:39Z")
I never say bless you. I explain to new people that I meet and have to deal with for a long time that its just not something I do, and not to be offended. Seems to work out
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### Author:  [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/19 "2013-06-20T16:58:31Z")
Thanks for the responses. I suppose if the office culture is to say “Bless You” after a sneeze, the polite thing to say in response is “Thank you”, regardless of religious affiliation, per **Sherrerd**. But I do not have to offer a blessing if I hear a sneeze.
**Lamia** , in Japan, do they offer any such comments for a sneeze, or other bodily noise? Your comment got me wondering what people in other countries say for a sneeze, or other noise, and why. I already know about ‘Gesundheit’; are there others?
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### Author:  [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)
#### Post date: [June 20, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-and-god-bless-you/661388/20 "2013-06-20T17:04:29Z")
Another Atheist for Gesundheit.
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