Congratulations! You are the first person I have ever known that thought this.
I’ve repeatedly heard that Gesundheit is German for “I hope I don’t catch your cold.” I put no stock in this, but…
What is the deal with airline food?
I tend to go with gesundheit. I just like the way it sounds.
It annoys me when anyone says something after I sneeze. It’s not that I’m offended because of my beliefs or lack thereof. I guess that it’s because I’m shy/awkward and sneezing slightly embarrasses me, so I’d rather people not acknowledge it.
I also don’t usually say anything after someone else sneezes. I hope my not saying anything isn’t considered rude.
And yes, I am one of those people who can stifle a sneeze. The trick is to hold your breath right before you sneeze.
[{Music}
Buh-blink-blink-blink-blink…
Ba-dah-dah Dah-dah-DAH–
dadah daDAH!](Seinfeld - Wikipedia)
They don’t say anything for sneezing, and to the best of my recollection there’s no similar stock phrase for coughing, etc. If someone sounded like they might be choking or something then of course one might ask if they were okay, but I assume that’s the same pretty much everywhere.
If I say anything, I now say gesundheit, due to my atheism.
When I was a small child, I think I asked my mother about the reason behind “bless you,” and she said that sneezing might indicate sickness, hence the need for divine intervention. That doesn’t answer the question of why there’s nothing similar for coughing, of course.
I find the whole thing rather silly, and am thus on a one man crusade to change the custom to this: The person who just sneezed says, “Excuse me!”. After all, you’re the one who sneezed; you’re the one who should say something. This crusade consists entirely of me saying excuse me whenever I sneeze. So far, zero converts. I also don’t bless anyone else. I agree with good ol’ uncle Al Crowley that there is no God but man, and I don’t want to wind up contractually obligated to shower blessings on anyone on account of a reflex.
Aside: I have allergies, and so sometimes have proper sneezing fits. In such a case, if you are a barbarian who insists on trying to bless me, one blessing is sufficient to cover the entire sneezing fit. You don’t have to say it after each sneeze. In fact, as I may sneeze several times a day, one blessing on the first sneeze is sufficient.
Interesting user name/post combo.
I’m an atheist too, but I saw gesundheit because everyone in my mother’s family does. I did confuse our German exchange student in high school once when she sneezed, I reflexively said “gesundheit”, and she got all excited and started talking to me in German. :smack: She wasn’t aware English speakers use it too.
I’m a fan of the band Our Lady Peace, I had just been listening to them when I joined this site, and I am male.
This is actually the current position of Knigge, the German equivalent of Ms. Manners. The person who sneezed should say “Entschuldigung”, while the people around him should ignore the sneeze. It is actually very rare to observe this “correct” behaviour, I would say “Gesundheit” beats “Entschuldigung” at least 20 to one, maybe even more.
I say, “Stop that!”
My mom never just sneezed. It was always a burst of sneezes. And she’d sneeze loudly with added effects. So after the third sneeze, I’d ask her, “Are you done?”
I recall my dad giving the occasional “zig a zint” after a sneeze. I’m not sure of the spelling. I’m sure it’s Yiddish, my grandparents immigrated in their late teens, early 20’s.
Its a custom left over from previous times that has outlasted its origins and become part of social politeness, like saying How do you Do as a greeting.
I was told that in times past people thought that a sneeze was your soul trying to leave the body , but an interest in history has led me to believe that what are trivial symptons nowadays, were precursors to a diseases that might very well kill you off shortly.
And people were trying to prevent this with a very quick prayer.
But that’s purely my guess.
At our house we say “Zablewski”, because I think it’s funny. After reading this thread I am now going to have to invent words for coughs, burps, and farts as well.
Another one for “gesundheit” or “salud.” If I really want to screw with them, I go with “nazdrowie” which is the Polish equivalent of salud (“to your health!”)
Yep, I am going to switch to “gesundheit”. If they use their hand instead of their inner elbow, I will say “nice catch!”.
Yeah. I’m atheist too, but how come people don’t try to invoke divine intervention for really, really bad illnesses like cancer? Or injuries like paralysis? I think it has to do with the self-aggrandization that comes free with faith. In the back of the mind, some may tell themselves, “Cool. They guy won’t catch a cold 'cause of ME!” :rolleyes:
Once I was with three of my friends. One of them farted. Another of my friends said “That didn’t happen” and the third one said “No, it didn’t.”
So maybe “That didn’t happen” can be the thing you say after someone farts?