Ask Mike: Bless You. Yes, You.
Hey Guys,
Like a lot of people, I was brought up to say “God bless you” when somebody sneezes. I never really thought about how the tradition started until my allergies flared up and people were imploring God to bless me every seven seconds. Here’s the scoop on why people say what they do when somebody spurts “ahh-cho.”
The Straight Dope, a great site for researching these sorts of questions, explains that the custom “was begun literally as a blessing” by Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD). Gregory the Great became Pope just as the plague was sweeping the land.
Understandably, people were quite scared about the plague and hoped a higher power could help to protect them. Pope Gregory apparently agreed with the theory and “called for litanies, processions, and unceasing prayer for God’s help and intercession.” Whenever anybody sneezed (often construed as a sign of illness), people quickly blessed them, in hopes of helping them to fight off the plague.
Another excellent site, Snopes.com, is less sure of the custom’s origin. The urban legend experts list a number of possibilities for why people originally started to say “God bless you.” One example — perhaps people thought a person’s soul might escape during a sneeze. To say “God bless you” would ward off the devil from capturing the soul while it’s there for the taking.
There are a few acceptable alternatives to the famous phrase. The German term “gesundheit” (literal translation: “health”) works. Less common is the Seinfeld-inspired “You are so good looking.” Certainly a nice thing to tell somebody after they’ve sneezed. However, the phrase has led to at least one firing. Hmm, better stick with the classics.
Thanks for reading,
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Im Christan but i think the god bless u thing is just dumb
I’ve heard this story and assume it’s the correct one at least here in the West. I’ve also heard a Hindu version where people would bless someone who was sneezing so their sould wouldn’t fly out of their body. Hindus are very careful about what goes into and out of their body; especially when it comes to gases whether they be from the bootie or face (mouth/nose) area. Just a cute caveat, every faith system has them.
In my etnic group ( in Africa) they say “urakire”,which
means” you are cured” and the answer back is “twetse” ,which means” all of us” ; of course a sneeze is not welcomed and the hope is not to be spread all around but to be cured, it is for that the wish is “be cured” to protect “us all” from the desease that makes you sneeze.
Jeanne.
COOOOL!
Thanks for the background info, Mike… it made for interesting reading. By the way, the word ‘hire’ that you used should actually be spelled ‘higher’.
It’s Quraan ,that,when soul entered Adam(Peace be upon Him)’s body through nostales,He(PBUH) Sneezed,and Said:”AlhamduliLLAH” Meaning All Praises are to The GOD.
It’s also tradition that if someone sneezes and says AlhamduliLLAH ,his companion should say “Mercy of GOD Be upon you!”.
They told me to say ‘GOD BLESS YOU’ after one sneezes is because the heart skips a beat when you do. The diaphram as well. So… if ya butt ain’t flat on ya back cause ya heart and lungs didn’t kick back in, GOD BLESSED YOU. DIGGIT? Like saying thanks to THE BOSS for resetting the circuit breaker.
in french, it is “a vos souaits”, which would translate to “your wishes”, so in french it works too
A better alternative is to simply say nothing as it isn’t necessary to comment on what is a normal function of the human body.
wow…that’s amaizin.. i always say that whenever someone sneezes but i never knew why??
thanks:)
I think you meant “higher power” not “hire power” – unless you meant some sort of power for hire?
I’ve had the same discussion and research going on like 9-10 years ago. We agreed afterwards just to say:
“I’m sorry you sneezed” – just to irritate people.
Works great.
Why they said God Bless you is becuase, in the olden times if you had a cold it was very likely you could dieso when someone on the streets sneezed the said God Bless You to say I hope God Blesses You so you dont die
Thanks for the literal interpretation of gesundheit…I’d always thought this was simply German for God bless you.
My daughter, like so many thousands of people, wondered what those who are not religious could comfortably say. Wishing someone “health” in German is an excellant alternative.
i always thought the saying came from the myth that your heart stopped when you sneezed. so people said God bless you– your heart has started again. never heard yours Mike.
“God bless you” ,is most likely a supersticious saying. One thinks that sneezing releases bad spirits from the body and thus God has blessed that person who sneezed.This is not true and if it were the person next to him would be in trouble would they not for the bad spirit needs to go some place. What gets me is how many people sneeze and think it is OK not to cover their mouth around you.
When you sneeze your heart stops for that moment.
It’s considered polite to wish someone well by saying God Bless You.
I heard it was because your heart stopped for a second when you sneeze…I don’t know.
Seems every faith has something or the other for this sneezing thing. If a person is having a heart attack and he sneezes then his soul is sure to fly away. Might be from one such/similar situation.
Just like the orgasm which is known as the little death, as your heart misses a beat when you have one, a sneeze is just the same. People say God bless you as your heart misses a beat when you sneeze
The practice of saying “Bless you” after a sneeze began in Roman times, during a plague, when it was believed that the plague could be contracted when one sneezed. See http://www.trivia-library.com/a/origin-of-common-superstitions-sneezing-and-bless-you.htm
Cheers, ander
i heard that in the olden days, people thought that when you sneeze, because your heart stops demons would possess you, so if they said God Bless You, yuo would be safe =)
and to the Jeanne-which ethnic group in Africa are you from? you seem to make like Africa is a place and not a continent. im also African and the country im from has 11 official languages with multiple ethnic groups. Other countries have 200 different ethnic groups. Please be specific-would love to know what language that is.
I generally use “health” too, as I study German.
The French have an interesting system – the first sneeze is “a tes souhaits”, or “to your wishes”, and the second sneeze is “a tes amores” – “to your loves”.
In Japanese culture, sneezing once means someone is talking about you (although not necessarily in a negative way).
Ha, I have a few atheist friends and every time they sneeze I’ll say “sorry you snezzed”
I say God Bless You even if people don’t like it.
gesundheit” (literal translation: “health”)
it is a verb that is not conjugated so it actually means to be in health or to be healed or of health and it would not be directed to anyone so it could be them wishing themselves health. So somewhere in Duetchlande it was shortened or paraphrased because it was so common so there is more to that phrase that was lost. I bet you it may of got changed around the time of Hitler since no one wanted to be accused of being a Jew. I would almost bet you the original was religious in some form. That would be good to know too before people begin to use it out of context with a presumption of it not being religious.
I like to say “bless you my child for your nose has sinned”
I have heard that you are nearer death when you sneeze than at any other time because it speeds up your blood pressure.
Saying ‘god bless you’–much like religion in general–is mere superstition. that’s it and that’s all folks. this was a waste of my time.
I believe that in certain parts of Bavaria/Austria, ‘God Bless You’ (or something similar) is a common greeting or departing phrase they have.
Anyway, I’ll just stick to my usual, ‘Ew.’
Just thinking about it, if someone who says ‘God Bless you,’ changes it for the consideration of a non-Christian, then… Aren’t they ‘sort of’ saying, ‘God should NOT bless YOU…’
I think it’s a good “invention” because I would not know what else to do. Seriously, though, this phrase does not exist in East Asia, and my friends ask why I relate religion to a phrase when I tell them Asia didn’t start as Christians and didn’t need to ward off devils… All the explanations… next time I’ll link to this site.
It’s good to know that someone appreciates the people they have around them by doing such a positive and respectful gesture whenever someone needs to blow off their steam. It’s also good to know that we can be forgiven for things that we cannot help but do on a regular basis, that aren’t even considered offensive.
I was told by a doctor, each time you sneeze your heart stops for a sec, and that it should be God blessed you,because he allowed your heart to start back.
i heard that your heart skips a beat so you say it. but your heart really doesn’t skip a beat.
I thought it was because your heart skips a beat or something everytime you sneeze…
I heard that “God bless you” was said due to people long ago thinking the soul momentarily left the body during a sneeze. It was meant as a safeguard.
Well, here in Estonia we say “Terviseks” when someone sneezes. Literally translated, it means “to your health” or “for your health”, but it really just means that you’re wishing the person to have good health. See, easy, no God has to get involved!
i heard that, every time you sneez, your brain shuts for a second or something, which causes your sould to leave your body for a second and come back, thats y you gt that shiver when you sneeze, thy say bless you, to bless the fact that your suld exit and enters, i guess, thats what i’ve head from my sister
I’ve never said “God Bless You,” and I’ve heard very few people who do…most people I know just say “bless you.” All religions have some form of blessing so people can take it as they will. I also say “gesundheit” and “santé,” which is French for “health.”
My grandmother always said “gesundheit” but she pronounced it “ZOON-tight,” so I never really knew what she was saying until I read it in a book somewhere.
My Health teacher told me that people say god bless you because when you sneeze your heart stops for a moment. They say God Bless You as a sign that you are still alive.
I’m Aetheist, so the “God Bless You” or “Bless You” thing is not used much in my vocabulary, however, it escapes me without thought sometimes.
I am still trying to figure out what to say to people when they sneeze that is polite and not foreign.
And when I sneeze, my little cousin says to say, “I’m alright!” LOL!!
itz axualli a superstition. they say wen u sneeze ur heart stopz.
why do people say God Bless You after you sneeze
I had read ages ago that it was believed when you sneezed rather than your soul, your body had just expelled demons. You were immediately blessed to keep them from getting back in!
When I was much younger, my grandmother explained sneezes this way. Centuries ago there were tribes that believe you sneezed when there were evil spirits inhabiting your body. The sneeze itself was the act of releasing the evil spirit from your body. “GOD bless you” was in response to the joy of being rid of that evil spirit.
Yeah, my dad said that we say “God bless you” because people used to think part of you was coming out, and God needed to bless you with what you lost