I’ve fallen out of the habit of saying anything when people sneeze. I used to say, “Gesundheit.” But early on, I asked Thais what they say when someone sneezes, and they looked at me like I was from Mars. (I mean, even more so than usual.) “Why in hell would anyone say anything?” they asked.
My problem with “gesundheit” is that, like any other foreign word, it carries a bit of pretension. Probably not enough to matter for Northerners, but Southerners (and Northern Arkansans) are touchy about that stuff. It’s “fancy talk” to use it when there’s a perfectly good English alternative.
My dad says it, and everyone always looks at him funny.
BTW, am I the only one who was never taught that God was the one doing the blessing? I always took it like “bless your little heart,” which has more to do with feeling sorry for someone. In other words, it was closer to “Sorry that you feel sick.”
It’s also been suggested that historically, sneezing was the first sign of illness, particularly plague. Bless you, you’re about to die horribly.
My 12yo nephew (mild Asperger’s) gets upset if no one say it when he sneezes. If no one notices, he’ll call from the next room "helllloooo . . . "
My understanding is that it dates from the great plague or the Black Death, and sneezing was a symptom ie, sneeze and you were going to die. Hence “God bless you” actually meant something back them.
For normal sneezes I will sometimes reflexively say “bless you”. However for a really explosive sneeze my stock phrase is “Get any on ya?” (This works equally well for loud burps.)
I don’t say anything at all. Nothing needs to be said in the first place.
I’ve heard the one about people believing that your soul left your body when you sneezed, so you should be blessed to keep the devil from replacing it.
If I say anything, I say “Gesundheit!” Sneeze again, and I’ll say “Gesundheit” again (if I said it the first time, that is). Sneeze a third time, and I’ll say “Silence that alarm!”
Wow, 43 posts before this point is raised. I thought it was common knowledge that an early symptom on the plague was sneezing.
Everyone knows the history of the nursery rhyme “Ring a ring o’ roses” right?
The custom apparently predates the Black Death by more than a millennium. As the Snopes article linked upthread explains, the origins are lost to history. If the Wikipedia article on bubonic plague is accurate, sneezing isn’t a symptom of the plague. Coughing is, but coughing doesn’t normally get you a blessing.
In any event, my students weren’t asking about the origins of the phrase but rather what Westerners today think is going to happen if others don’t bless them when they sneeze. Few, if any, modern Westerners believe that a sneeze means the sneezer’s life or soul is in immediate danger.
I concur with this. I also do not think, for the most part, that people who say “Bless you” after a sneeze are trying to inflict religion on others. I think it is just something people say without really thinking about it. I bet people would need to think MORE about NOT saying it.
Sort of like when someone says “How’s it going?”. They don’t really want to know; it is just a more casual way of saying hello, maybe.
I say “Gesundheit!” because it’s what I was brought up saying. But saying that instead of “Bless you” gets some weird looks from non-native residents of MN.
I once noted a fellow volunteer at an event saying the G word as well and we started discussing it. Turns out he is from the other family tree in the little town where all my relatives said “Gesundheit” regularly. Population 300. I guess I can consider it a hometown code word.
I sometimes say, “Godzilla!” Then I explain, “It’s monster for bless you.”
I also sometimes say:
“That’s scary,” OR “That’s funny.”
If I sneeze and no one says anything, I might say,
“Bless me.”
“Thank me.”
but that’s really just for my own amusement.
That’s an Urban Legend and not true, as has been discussed in a couple of threads now.
In the fall, I have the opposite problem. I feel like I need to sneeze but then it doesn’t come out. I hate that. How can you make yourself sneeze (assuming you have nothing on you) or at least make sure you sneeze when you get that feeling?
Try squinting while looking at something bright while gently inhaling thru the nose.
I can force a sneeze on command by scratching my temple or eyebrow. Works about 90%. Yah, I’m a real riot at parties.
This bit only works on 18-35% of the population.
When one says God Bless you, they are implying you are not blessed. It is not a prayer more like a demand. It to me is just a kind expression. Or like telling a parent who just fed their child to feed their child. People have been saying God Bless you or God Bless America for years and it sounds like they don’t think or feel that anyone is Blessed. I understood the Word Bless meant happiness.
We were told that it was due to the Black Death and the line “We all fall down” was referring to those who died and the explanations for “A pocket full of posies” are consistent with those referenced on Snope.
I like the final paragraph there, quoting John Lennon.
Yes, so was I, but the various discussions about it on this Board finally convinced me otherwise. If you google it too, there’s a lot of information refuting it. Really does seem to be false after all.