What's the REAL reason people say God Bless You when you sneeze?

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I've heard no less than THREE varying accounts, all sworn to be true.

I've heard that sneezing is your soul trying to escape through your nose and that saying "God Bless You" shoves it back in.

I've heard it was started during the Bubonic plaugue, when everyone who was sick was immediately a prime candidate for the grave, so saying 'god bless you' was like saying 'good luck'

and I've heard that eople say 'god bless you' because your heart actually skips a beat when you sneeze.

Which is correct? When will this outmoded custom be laughed out of existence? Is this a religious, cultural, or national thing? Who started this? The Germans, with their 'Geuzendheit?' It sounds like something that would originate in America to me. Do English people say this, as a rule? French? Spanish? Middle Eastern?

(ILX: the new Google)

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:20 (twenty-one years ago)

i knew the straight dope would have the answer to this:
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:23 (twenty-one years ago)

It's stupid and I refuse to say it. I only say thanks to people when they say it to me out of politeness. It's the stupidiest tradition ever.

― papa november (papa november), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

I have to say, it's pretty awesome that we keep up a tradition that originated in the sixth century. (xpost, HA!)

― Sanjay McDougal (jaymc), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:24 (twenty-one years ago)

i think "gesundheit" is a very nice sentiment. "bless you" i can do without; no reason to drag religion into it.

― stockholm cindy (Jody Beth Rosen), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:27 (twenty-one years ago)

Except the straight dope is talking nonsense - thr idea that it originated with St. Gregory as an anti-plague blessing is not really believed anymore - it is much older than that. Aristotle and Thucydides both mention similar customs among the ancient Greeks, and the Romans would similarly say 'Absit Omen' upon a sneeze. It's found in most cultures - there are examples from Africa, Persia, India, and among some native North American peoples. No-one really knows why though, but it seems that sneezes, being unexpected and unexplained, and associated with illness, came to be seen as an evil omen, which had to be counteracted with a phrase or action to cross out the bad luck.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

what jay said. i love that.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:33 (twenty-one years ago)

i know his name isn't really jay.

― s1ocki (slutsky), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:34 (twenty-one years ago)

sub-question: do you say it?

i try not to, but find myself giving in. Conditioning. That post-sneeze silence can be DEAFENING.

Plus, the movie Singles to thread

'bless you' or 'bleshuh' or 'easy, now' preferred over evoking Yahweh though, IMO.

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 25 November 2004 06:59 (twenty-one years ago)

I say it - I like it, I think it's nice. I try to mix it up a bit though - God bless you, bless you, gesundheit.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:02 (twenty-one years ago)

to put to rest the thread question: the REAL reason someone says "God Bless You" when you sneeze is because they are being falsely polite.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:08 (twenty-one years ago)

do what i do, just roll your eyes at someone when they sneeze and look away

― cutty (mcutt), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:13 (twenty-one years ago)

Or do what I do, and say, "Dude! That's fucking nasty! Don't EVER do that around me again!"

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:14 (twenty-one years ago)

And then slap the shit out of him.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:15 (twenty-one years ago)

Why would saying 'God bless you' be falsely polite?

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:29 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not concern, it's just a knee-jerk response. An affectation of politeness.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:37 (twenty-one years ago)

Although maybe politeness itself is an affectation, in which case I'm wrong.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:38 (twenty-one years ago)

Ok, I'm wrong. I just decided.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:39 (twenty-one years ago)

A knee-jerk response is part of what manners are - it may be a pretense of compassion, but it's not an affection of politeness. Seeing as neither the speaker nor the sneezer believes what is said is of importance, to God or health, it's not fake - it's just a social ritual which it is rude to disobey. Politeness is showing that you are willing to obey arbitrary rules out of respect for those around you.

X-post??

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:40 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost, indeed.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 07:51 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not fucking polite, it's fucking rude and it belongs here: Things that are deemed polite, but I find a bit rude

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:16 (twenty-one years ago)

Why is it rude? Because it draws attention to someone sneezing? That would only be the case if people were embarassed by sneezing, or if sneezing were considered something to be embarassed by. As they're not I don't see what the problem is.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:23 (twenty-one years ago)

It's rude because, as I kinda said before, it's automatically insincere, and generally acknowledged to be entirely unnecessary. It's annoying, I agree. I sneeze, you say "Bless you," I think "Don't humor me, asshole."

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:28 (twenty-one years ago)

I really can't say that it bothers me that much. It's certainly a lot politer than shouting "What the fuck was that?" when someone sneezes.

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:30 (twenty-one years ago)

Why is a response necessary at all? It's a sneeze. Let it be what it is.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Okay, maybe "rude" is a bit harsh but the line of thought that reads that saying "bless you" after a sneeze being polite is totally misguided. Sneezing (and farting and burping) in close quarters is embarassing enough without some jumped up twat drawing more attention to it - no one wants to know.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:31 (twenty-one years ago)

xpost

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:31 (twenty-one years ago)

Now that I find odd. I always felt that farting / belching in public = embarassing. Sneezing in public = not embarassing. Why should that be, d'you think?

― Matt (Matt), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

It's not sincere or insincere because it is a ritual. Is fork on the left and knife on the right insincere? It's not that I'm humoring someone when I say 'bless you', it's that that is what people in our society do. These customs serve many purposes, mostly just an identification of community, and in this case just showing that you respect the person enough to observe the custom.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:33 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm kinda creeped out by people who sat "Bless you!" as if they really, really mean it. The next thing they're going to say to me is, "Have you let Jesus into your heart?"

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:34 (twenty-one years ago)

"HI! I'M CHEERY AND AHPPY AND IRREPARABLY DAMAGED IN SOME WAY! GOOD THING YOU SNEEZED, OF WE WOULD HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON!"

That's rare, but it happens.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

...and in this case just showing that you respect the person enough to observe the custom.

and to observe that you just bleched all over the place.

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

And also, I can't type.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:36 (twenty-one years ago)

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.htm

― kingfish (Kingfish), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:38 (twenty-one years ago)

The religious element may be off-putting for some people, but it's worth realising that it's meaningless - in a century or so it will have evolved into a completely new nonsense word that people say.

"HI! I'M CHEERY AND AHPPY AND IRREPARABLY DAMAGED IN SOME WAY! GOOD THING YOU SNEEZED, OF WE WOULD HAVE NOTHING IN COMMON!"

I didn't mean between two people, but within a culture - these are indications of shared culture and heritage that were once very important and are less so now. I always feel pleased when people say 'bless you', though I don't think I notice if I don't. Anyway, it's not going anywhere.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:39 (twenty-one years ago)

No. That's very clear.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:41 (twenty-one years ago)

Spanish, "salud" which basically means "good health"

― Miss Misery (thatgirl), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:42 (twenty-one years ago)

See, that makes sense.

― Pears can just fuck right off. (kenan), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:43 (twenty-one years ago)

I always like it that explanations of folklore become folklore themselves eventually - the devil or soul coming out the nose, ring-a-roses being about the plague etc. There's a pleasant continuity to it all.

― Kevin Gilchrist (Mr Fusion), Thursday, 25 November 2004 08:44 (twenty-one years ago)

It's certainly a lot politer than shouting "What the fuck was that?" when someone sneezes

I don't know why I find this so funny, but I do. I work in a small shop and it's often quiet. I know that people are slightly embarrassed when they make a sudden, loud, involuntary noise in a confined space. I always say 'bless you'. It genuinely does seem to put people at their ease.

My brothers always say "demons out!" if it's a particularly loud sneeze.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 25 November 2004 11:39 (twenty-one years ago)

And then slap the shit out of him.
-- Pears can just fuck right off. (fluxion2...), November 25th, 2004 7:15 AM. (later)

don't do that! they might slap you back and they have goop all over their hands!

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 25 November 2004 12:02 (twenty-one years ago)

What should you say when your cat sneezes?

― caitlin (caitlin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 12:26 (twenty-one years ago)

god would have blessed you if you had a soul

― ken c (ken c), Thursday, 25 November 2004 12:26 (twenty-one years ago)

What should you say when your cat sneezes?

"God bless you kind sir." (but in a ruling-classes accent).

― dog latin (dog latin), Thursday, 25 November 2004 12:39 (twenty-one years ago)

I usually say "for fuck's sake, Linus!" because he's usually sitting on me at the time and I get cat phlegm on me.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:00 (twenty-one years ago)

that plague thing seems dubious to me as in french we say " a vos souhaits" ("to your wishes", tho' it doesn't translate too well) and then " a vos amours" ("to your loves") if you sneeze again...
as for the useless part of it, i agree. i don't say it and resist the temptation to fill the void cos i find it silly useless. plus if the person sneezes more than two times, what do you do ? when do you stop saying something ? what does it say if you think it's polite to say something but then stop saying something ?
deep existential questions...

― AleXTC (AleXTC), Thursday, 25 November 2004 13:48 (twenty-one years ago)

In Spain they say 'Jesús' when someone sneezes. And the Russians have the very sweet 'Bud zdorov' - Be healthy!

― scotstvo (scotstvo), Thursday, 25 November 2004 15:57 (twenty-one years ago)

I'm going to start saying 'DEMONS OUT!' - that's great!

― Roger Fidelity (Roger Fidelity), Thursday, 25 November 2004 16:44 (twenty-one years ago)

They do it when they belch, too. Sigh. The long winter evenings just fly by.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 25 November 2004 18:37 (twenty-one years ago)

http://gg.wiw.org/krebnar_imparts_his_gems_of_wisdom_issue1_sneeze.jpg

― Ernest P. (ernestp), Thursday, 25 November 2004 19:19 (twenty-one years ago)

What I don't get is how we have nice special things to say when someone sneezes, but if you cough, you're on your own, buddy.

― Layna Andersen (Layna Andersen), Thursday, 25 November 2004 20:02 (twenty-one years ago)

I must say, this is pretty awesome:

[Greek Anthology, ante AD 500]

Dick cannot blow his nose whene'er he pleases, His nose so long is, and his arm so short; Nor ever cries, God bless me! when he sneezes -- He cannot hear so distant a report.

― Curt1s St3ph3ns, Thursday, 25 November 2004 20:24 (twenty-one years ago)

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