# Thanks for the history lesson, but... **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [September 27, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126 "2001-09-27T16:05:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Windsculptor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/bcef8e/32.png) [@Windsculptor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Windsculptor)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/1 "2001-09-27T16:05:51Z")
It’s interesting to learn that saying “GBY” when one sneezes originated in the 6th century – but why the HELL do morons continue to say this 1400 years later? I’m sick and tired of morons pointlessly (and mindlessly) repeating “God Bless You” after a sneeze. Obviously they don’t believe that I have the plague. They’re just “being polite”. How come people don’t say similar cutesy and annoying and pointless things when you cough, burp, fart, hiccup? Okay, there. I’ve vented. Whew. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2001, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/2 "2001-09-27T23:24:26Z")
Welcome to the SDMB. A link to the Staff Report is apprecaited. Providing one can be as simple as pasting the URL into your post, making sure to leave a space on either side of it. [http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html) ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2001, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/3 "2001-09-29T10:40:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Windsculptor \* > **Okay, there. I’ve vented.** Bless you. ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/4 "2001-09-30T05:06:29Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s interesting to learn that saying “GBY” when one sneezes originated in the 6th century – but why the HELL do morons continue to say this 1400 years later? Well, “I hope you don’t have a fatal disease and die” is a bit blunt. And “Satan curse you!” is just downright rude. Me, I usually just say “Gesundheit!”, on the grounds that, having taken about 6 years of German in high school and college, I really ought to remember how to say _something_. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2001, 6:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/5 "2001-09-30T06:23:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Windsculptor \* > It’s interesting to learn that saying “GBY” when one sneezes originated in the 6th century – but why the HELL do morons continue to say this 1400 years later? Habit. Inertia. _TRADITION_. ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2001, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/6 "2001-10-01T18:09:39Z")
Why do people say “GRY” at all? ::ducks and runs:: ---
**Author:** ![bacobit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@bacobit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bacobit)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/7 "2001-10-04T00:56:15Z")
Seems a little excessive to refer to such folks as morons. No one gets hurt. Right? I wonder what sort of world it would be if everything that was “innessential” was eliminated from the culture. The language takes on / sheds expressions naturally, through use/disuse. People use this expression, and so it stays. As for why, well, I can only speak for myself. I kind of like it when people wish a “blessing” on me. Regardless about how I may be feeling about ( God, existence of ) on that particular day. It’s similar to the way I feel when people pull over, en masse, to let an ambulance go by. It’s just nice. ---
**Author:** ![RM\_Mentock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e274bd/32.png) [@RM\_Mentock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RM_Mentock)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/8 "2001-10-04T09:29:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bacobit \* > \*\*It’s similar to the way I feel when people pull over, en masse, to let an ambulance go by. It’s just nice. \*\* It’s the law, in that case, though. ---
**Author:** ![Dijon\_Warlock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a9a28c/32.png) [@Dijon\_Warlock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dijon_Warlock)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/9 "2001-10-04T10:40:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\*Why do people say “GRY” at all? > > ::ducks and runs:: \*\* Because if they say it enough, it will become the elusive third common word ending in “gry” and we can all call it a night and go home. At least, I _hope_ so. ---
**Author:** ![bacobit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4491bb/32.png) [@bacobit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bacobit)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2001, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/10 "2001-10-04T19:51:21Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\*\*Originally posted by RM Mentock \* > It’s the law, in that case, though. \*\* I’m only talking about how both make me feel, and so the fact the one is compulsory and the other habitual would only be relevant if it changed the way I felt. It doesn’t. They’re both signs of civility in an increasingly uncivilized world. They only differ in scale. In the case of the ambulance, it’s necessary to make it a law because there are, sadly, there are people who are either too ignorant/stupid/careless to pull over when an ambulance needs to go by, and who would only do so out by being threatened with a fine. I acknowledge that. Some people need a little nudge. Of course, I too, at first, pulled over only because it what I was taught to do, because it was the law. But I’ve since come to appreciate the law, the soundness and goodness of it. The world that would have such a law. When all of the cars have pulled over for the ambulance screeching by, I feel as if we’re all being reminded of the day when the ambulance will be coming for us. This diminishes the perceived urgency of whatever I was rushing to before the ambulance appeared. For a moment, we all pause to acknowledge our shared mortality. I admit my perspective on this may be a bit skewed, since I live in Los Angeles, where people drive with such selfishness ( although not so much lately ). People will say I’m naive for attributing to kindness what is only a respect for law. Fine. I prefer to assume the best about people. So, even if the “God Bless You” is uttered “mindlessly”, I don’t hear it mindlessly. ---
**Author:** ![NiceGuyJack](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/niceguyjack/32/3069_2.png) [@NiceGuyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NiceGuyJack)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2001, 5:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/11 "2001-10-12T05:53:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by andros \* > \*\* > ::ducks and runs:: \*\* What do aquatic fowl and diarrhea have to do with this subject? Makes no sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![elelle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@elelle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elelle)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2001, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/12 "2001-10-13T00:40:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Windsculptor \* > \*\* > > How come people don’t say similar cutesy and annoying and pointless things when you cough, burp, fart, hiccup? \*\* That is a good question; the order of bodily emissions that require a blessing. As to farts, I’ve followed the lead of my Grandad, who would loudly proclaim after someone’s obvious sacriledge of air,“GezzzOOONNDDD-HEIT!”. It was all giggles after that, but maybe the offender really needed the dispersal of their sins. Yuk Yuk. ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2001, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/13 "2001-10-14T19:18:09Z")
I really prefer to enjoy my sneezes in peace, without some crazy “God bless you”-sniper popping out from around a corner. What they’re saying is, “OOOooh, I caught you sneezing. My powers of observation are so keen and my reflexes so sharp, that I was able to hurriedly say, ‘God bless you’ before anybody else. I win!” Maybe I’ll get little trophies made up and hand them out. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2001, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/thanks-for-the-history-lesson-but/84126/14 "2001-10-18T20:24:09Z")
bacobit said: > [@](#): > > When all of the cars have pulled over for the ambulance screeching by, I feel as if we’re all being reminded of the day when the ambulance will be coming for us. This diminishes the perceived urgency of whatever I was rushing to before the ambulance appeared. For a moment, we all pause to acknowledge our shared mortality. Me, I get a twinge of guilt driving faster down the freeway than the ambulance with it’s lights running. 😉