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I was thinking about the group Uncommon words and their meanings. Which led me to Gesundheit. ge·sund·heit
From the German gesund ("healthy" ) and -heit ("-hood" )

So instead of saying the more common, “Bless you” or “God bless you” when someone sneezes I’ll say gesundheit, meaning good health.

But what about “goodbye?” An atheist wouldn’t say “god be with you” would they? And what about the word “damn?” There is no hell, other than conversing with a fundamentalist Baptist. So damn you or damn it, etc aren’t phrases that an atheist would technically use are they?

Any other words or phrases to keep in mind? Like “for Christ’s sake” or “heaven help us?”

What are some alternatives for a new agnostic/atheist?

TXLerins 5 Mar 8
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12 comments

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I am a teacher someone in my class sneezes the common response these days is "Go wash your hands!"
I am more likely to say gesundheit but that comes from my mother saying it when I was a child.

I use dang instead of damn don't know where that came from.
Crap on a cracker (thank you Big Bang Theory)

The funniest use of a religous based phrase was the mother who when talking about her child's interest in xtianity said "Thank god that didn't last long."

I think we use what we grew up hearing without thinking about what it means in the strictest sense.

In some Sci Fi TV shows they used frack to mean fuck and drop it often in the show. Another uses frell the same way. Put it into a made up language and you can swear like crazy on a TV show without people getting offended but use the actual word....

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My late partner was from Iran. Iranians, being Aryans, have an expression Aufyatbashe (like the German counterparts) means to your health in Farsi.

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I was brought up with "gesundheit," so that sounds the most natural to me. "Bless you" sounds downright sanctimonious to my ear.

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Yes, I agree with most of these comments. As for m'self, I like to run through the George Carlin famous List of Seven now and then, just to hear the beauty of the words. Except, to keep up with the times, I've added two more to the list.

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i understood ge sund hiet to translate literally as go out spirit, thus the bless you equivalent. pass the tissues, or excuse you, seems an appropriate thing to say if words are preferred.

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My family stopped saying bless you some time ago for the pure silliness of it but do feel I should say something when someone outside of sneezes, Gesundheit is a good alternative, thank you I'll start using it.
Damn has actually nothing to do with hell, it means to condemn. You can condemn to hell or anywhere or anything else. Damn you to an eternally itchy nose!
Instead of good by I use "Laterrrz Biatch!!!"

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I use a lot "for fuck sake". Very good to express frustration...

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I say damn, God damn, Jesus fucking christ and terms like that all the time. They are just words. I don't say anything when someone sneezes, why should I, it's just a sneeze. But that just me,lol.

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I was taught to say "gesundheit" as a child and that is what has stuck with me. Never "bless you" etc. Thank goodness!

How about just "bye" or "farewell" or "see you later!" In Hawaii we say "aloha" or "a hui hou" and I"m sure many regions have their own parting terms.

We used to say "Jeepers Creepers" instead of "Jesus Christ" but there are lots of alternatives to exclaim, how about "Great Caesar's Ghost!" or other terms instead of spiritual figures, like "Oh my goodness!" and "Well I'll be a monkey's uncle!" or just "Golly!"

I'm danged sure that more phrases come to mind after I submit my comment!

Instead of Jesus Christ! we say "Cheese and Biscuits!"

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Actually ... I have heard that the reason people say, "God Bless You" is because your heart stops beating for an instant ... So technically you were dead for an instant. Don't know how true it is but I do know that the sneeze pressure can be immense. "We all died many times over bitches". 😂..."well bless our little hearts" 😂

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For sneezing I say "skat there" which is an Appalachian term. When you sneeze it is said that you are expelling an evil spirit and "skat there" is telling the spirit skat, get away from here.

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Cheese and Crackers=Jesus Christ
Live long and Prosper

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