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What do you say?

At my work, I started saying "good luck" when someone sneezes. I'm happy that its caught on! I have no problem saying "bless you" or "gesundheit" (I'm half German after all,) but am wondering what other people say, if anything, (which I sometimes say nothing.)

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pepperjones 8 Mar 25
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43 comments

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16

Gesundheit. I took German for 2 years and it basically means "to better health" or something like that. Or I could be interesting and say "Hail Satan." Lol.

I think it means "go away ghost".

interesting @icolan... I recall my German professor explaining the "gesund" was some form of the verb go and "heit" refers to Spirit. related to the English word "haint". but there's reason to believe that I just dreamed it. It's said when people sneeze for the same reason people say bless you.

12

I am from the Appalichian region and they say "skat there". The basis is that when you sneeze, you are expelling a bad spirit and you are telling that spirit to "skat", "get away from here".

9

I say, cover your mouth.

8

We don't comment when someone coughs, belches or breaks wind. The origins of blessing someone for sneezing are supposedly in that they might signifiy the beginning of a fatal illness (typically Bubonic Plague.) That's a long time gone, now.

So I say nothing. I actually makes me feel awkward when someone comments on me sneezing.

its actually the pneumonic form of the plague. People usually died within days. SO a sneeze portended doom and for those that believed a blessing was needed pretty quickly

Not so sure about "breaking wind". A colleague broke wind...accidentally and laud and another teachers said to him "GOD PROTECT US ALL'.

7

Ich bin ein Wiesbadener! Guten morgen fellow German! On this topic, I have gotten to where I say nothing at all. I have said Gesundheit in the past, but now I say nothing. I bristle at the expectation that anything at all needs to be said. Maybe I'm just getting cranky in my old age. LOL!

6

Got to say something-mom taught me manners.

5

Cover your mouth...

Hutch Level 7 Mar 25, 2018
5

I like the good luck idea!!

4

The obvious answer is "You are soooo good looking."

4

I say nothing at all and loathe when someone says "god bless you" to me. "Gesundheit" is acceptable if you must say something and "wow" is okay and a little phunny if I sneeze more than three times. If I'm in a mood, I'll give them the history behind their superstition in a very condescending way.

4

I like looking people in the eye and, with a straight face, tell them they're going to die of an anurism............................. Nah! I usually say nothing or Gesundheit. Gesundheit just means you're wishing them good health so I see no harm in it.

4

Sometimes I say nothing; sometimes I say "God blast you" because it seems irreverent all around.

4

I do say 'Bless' to my daughter but, and this is going to lose a bit in translation, it's an elongated 'Bleeeeeees' which is done more as a cutesy piss take, not to my daughter I hasten to add and it's also just habit 🙂

3

If they sneeze multiple times, I’ll say “that’s enough!”

3

Rather shout " cover your mouth you dirty basatard !!!"

2
2

Salute! Italian for good health.

2

I say bless you. It's a pretty general saying that covers the bases.
I don't say God bless you because if a God could I don't suppose they'd need a blessing.

1

I tend to say nothing.

1

5 in a row gets you a paid day off!

1

I say "bless you and all the people you blew away!"

1

or a varaiation of gesundheit, such as gusundiheight, or any other way to mis pronounce the word

1

Demons Begone! He he....

1

I don't say anything when someone coughs or hiccups or passes gas, although I often give a dirty look, so it's never made sense to me to say anything when someone sneezes.

1

If asked I simply say that I am not qualified to bless anyone.

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