Agnostic.com

26 1

What is your response to "god blees you" after sneezing?

#god
GulfcoastFFRF 3 Mar 16
Share

Enjoy being online again!

Welcome to the community of good people who base their values on evidence and appreciate civil discourse - the social network you will enjoy.

Create your free account

26 comments

Feel free to reply to any comment by clicking the "Reply" button.

4

Im past thinking about it so just say thank you.

3

As often as I sneeze (allergic to dust among other things) when I head "god bless you", I just say thanks. They mean well, it doesn't hurt me, and it's not worth pushing my agenda.

2

I just don't say anything that much anymore when someone sneezes. I've thought about the Seinfeld response.

2

I'm usually too busy making sure I haven't got a rogue bogey somewhere on my clothes to make a response 🙂

2

I just say bless you just out of common courtesy. I feel like its rude not to say enything

1

“Thank you” ... same as when a Spanish speaker says “salud” when I sneeze. Same as when someone says “Merry Christmas” in December.

I pick my battles.

1

I say thank you. I say bless you out of habit, same with Merry Christmas. It is just part of our culture. It would be like not saying adios in Spanish to say goodbye. It has taken on a secular connotation over time. Sometimes I say salud or gesundheit since those just mean good health.

The real bizarre thing to me is acknowledging a sneeze, but not a cough lol.

1

I respond with an enthusiastic “abracadabra!”.

1

Usually it's just 'bless you' and it can't harm anyone or anything. gesundheit is just as good or bad. I mean, why say anything? No one says anything, well anything polite, when you burp, another of those natural bodily reactions. No need to look for something to be upset about.

1

Depends on my relationship with them. "Thank You" if they see me as an old lady. "OOO, that was the best I've had in a while" if they truly know me.

1

Too your good health and people look at me like I am weird

1

Drives me crazy. You can be in a room and someone sneeze. Everyone except for me responed with "god bless you". They do it automatically like robots. It is not just religious people, but non religious too. I try and explain where the saying originated and no one wants to here.

Where did the saying originate?

@mary25y It originated from ancient superstitions. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" would stop the devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person's body.

I heard, or read that "God bless you" was used when a person sneezed because they were expelling a demon from their bodies.

@Fornax Yes I heard that too. There are more than one answer for that saying. When I sneeze, I try not to do in front of people so I don't have to hear god bless you.

1

“Thank you.” I still say “bless you” out of habit because it’s what you say. I am trying to switch to the German “Gesundheit” buthBita are tough to break.

0

Spell check

0

"I need all the help I can get!" Or just a simple thank you

0

Depends on the person. A kind hearted nice person - I say thanks. The other kind .... never mind ......

SKH78 Level 8 Mar 17, 2018
0

I believe it dates back to 1200/ 1400 when illness was a serious issue for health

0

I see it as based on the bubonic plague, coughing was a sign of the illness , the god bless you was a way of acknowledging the persons plight . I just comment bless you .

0

I put up with it don't want to be an absolute party pooper for all those who like it or say it automatically without thinking - Gesundheit! would fit the bill just as well though -( I rather think that might be what German people say)

0

#RhymingSlime
Ah swing through the trees singin' hello Louise.
Ah just covered you wi' a lot o'ma slimy green snot.
An you just fell to yo' knees cos I sneeze?
Wot's yo' game? You a lame brain?
I treat yo' Xtian all with disdain.
Ah don't have to explain.
© 2018 Rjn
0

Excuse me.

0

I've never understood the need to do this, religious or not. I never comment when someone sneezes. If someone comments when I do, then I usually just smile at them. If I was going to respond to make a point, then I think it would be "Thank you. But no holy water, please. That stuff burns."

Nobody blesses you when you yawn, cough or break wind. The origin of doing it for sneezing dates back to it being an early symptom of Bubonic Plague. Isn't it time we moved on?

Yeah, you're right. One of the symptoms of the plague was coughing and sneezing, and it is believed that Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) suggested saying “God bless you” after a person sneezed in hopes that this prayer would protect them from an otherwise certain death. The expression may have also originated from superstition.

0

I just say thanks.

0

If God wants my snot, he can have it. There's plenty of it. He doesn';t need to bless me."

0

... and "god blees you too"... I like it better than god bless you. jajaja. That's my "syn/sar" showing. I usually say thank you, no need to question an intended kindness..
I still say god bless you or bless you... hold habits die hard.

Tomas Level 7 Mar 17, 2018
Write Comment
You can include a link to this post in your posts and comments by including the text q:38290
Agnostic does not evaluate or guarantee the accuracy of any content. Read full disclaimer.