this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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How/why did saying things like bless you or gesundheit start? And when?

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[–] [email protected] 59 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Off the top of my head, I think something in traditional European beliefs said that the soul was at risk of flying out of the nose when one sneezed. Hence people would say "bless you" in case you died and were at risk of otherwise falling into hell.

(Edit:) This vaguely supports my memory: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_bless_you#Origins_and_legends

[–] [email protected] 25 points 1 year ago (2 children)

"A sneeze is your soul trying to leave your body. Saying God Bless You shoves it back in."

I always say this as a joke. I'm pretty sure it's from the Simpsons, and not an actual historical belief. If you have any source that shows this an old wives tale or folkloric legend, I'd love to see it. That'd make it even funnier to me haha.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 year ago

I was told this explanation in the 1970s by someone who was told it in the 1930s. So unless Groening is a time traveler, it didn’t originate with the Simpsons.

https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bless-you/ is a good read; the truth is that Europeans and Middle Easterners have been doing it for so long (at least 2000 years) that the reason is lost to time; now it’s purely tradition/cultural. Early writings record that it was done, but not why.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Makes sense why my mom sneezes upwards of ten times in a row now

[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 year ago (10 children)
[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 year ago (2 children)

My girlfriend says "bless you" whenever I fart

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago
[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

She sounds like a keeper

[–] [email protected] 13 points 1 year ago

Be the change

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

This guy I worked with used to say, "What happened?". He would always feign concern for the farter.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I say bless you normally for sneezes and sarcastically for everything else. Farts, hiccups, burps etc. Peak comedy I know

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Because the onus is on the farter to say something courteous. Because we, for some reason, decided that a involuntary, natural bodily function is rude.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

involuntary

Speak for yourself

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

Well now I do

[–] [email protected] -1 points 1 year ago

"I hope you didn't just shit yourself on my couch. 😐"

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I don't know, but I wish it'd stop.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Yeah we should just blankly stare at them instead as they cover you in a mist of snot

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 year ago

If someone sneezes directly at me then the last thing I'd want to say is "bless you".

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Perhaps it'd be less awkward if we all say "fuck you" by convention instead.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I could get behind that

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I use the German word Gesundheit. It means health. I will offer it for most audible bodily functions, though, not just sneezes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

That's funny.

I use it for all of those, but also if someone uses or words I don't understand or if they bite their tongue or anything similar. I successfully managed to confuse a lot of people doing that and it brings me great joy.

[–] [email protected] 15 points 1 year ago

i dont know why but i always assumed it relevant/appearing around the black death in the middle ages

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

Sneezing was a symptom of plague.

[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago

It's hard to say when it began, but it's a nearly worldwide tradition. Check out this page of different salutations:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_to_sneezing
My belief is that it's generally because sneezing in a sign of illness, and illness tended to be more dangerous centuries ago, before antibiotics and when many people had less access to nutrition, consistent heating, sanitation and so forth.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

You can say “Godzilla” if you want to

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

I always thought we should say excuse me like if we farted or burped. I do say that after sneezing sometimes.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 year ago

It's because the demons fly out of you when you sneeze, and you need to be blessed to prevent them from getting back in, or so they thought back in Black Plague days.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 year ago

For bless you think it started because of the old wives tale that states that when someone sneezes, they skip a heartbeat or something similar.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Also those are the only two I actually know, so I’d love to learn others

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

In Denmark we say "prosit", Latin for "may it help". The funny thing is that in German they use prosit for "cheers".

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

Prost is cheers

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago