Why do people say "bless you" whenever you sneeze?

skysmom65

It's expected we'll say "Bless you!" (or "God bless!") when someone nearby sneezes, but does anyone really know why we do this? Are we trying to protect the sneezers from evil spirits? Are we fending off the Devil? Is this a remnant of an ancient recognition that sneezers aren't long for this world, thus we commend their souls to God even as we wash our hands of them? Are we congratulating them on their impending good luck? (As silly as this may sound now, sneezing was at one long-ago time seen as a fortuitous portent.) Some questions, no matter how simple, don't have one knowable answer. Though a number of "explanations" exist for this custom, nothing points to any one of them being its origin. Sep 04 06, 1:15 PM

wolf-trainer

i heard that when you sneeze, part of your soul is trying to escape, so when someone says 'bless you' they are actually putting the bit of soul back in. sounds kinda weird to me, but that's what i was told Sep 04 06, 1:36 PM

zbeckabee

Check questions numbered: 47306 11360 58189 Sep 04 06, 2:04 PM

Gnomon

An old Irish tradition is that if you sneeze and nobody says "bless you", the little people can steal you away. Sep 04 06, 4:30 PM

skysmom65

OH NO! Not the little people!!! EEEEEK!! ;o) Sep 04 06, 4:38 PM

What-A-Mess

Old wives tale.....When you sneeze, a bad spirit has come out and the proper protocol (Catholic) is to "bless" a person who has overcome an evil spirit. Sep 04 06, 4:39 PM

What-A-Mess

But here is the "straight dope"...... The custom of saying "God bless you" after a sneeze was begun literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the plague (his successor succumbed to it). Gregory (who also invented the ever-popular Gregorian chant) called for litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's help and intercession. Columns marched through the streets chanting, "Kyrie Eleison" (Greek for "Lord have mercy"). When someone sneezed, they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not subsequently develop the plague. All that prayer apparently worked, judging by how quickly the plague of 590 AD diminished. http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mgesundheit.html Sep 04 06, 4:41 PM

Create a Free FunTrivia ID to add to, request more/new answers, or edit this entry

Why do people say "God bless you" when you sneeze? Why do we say 'bless you' when others sneeze? Why do we say "bless you" when someone sneezes? It's a habit to say "Bless you" after someone sneezes. Where did this habit come from?

1 What Do You Say? This quiz is a brief fill-in on my favorite song, What Do You Say by Reba. Good luck. McEntire, Reba Average 5 Q darkgoddess2004 Mar 13 01 2361 plays 2 How Do You Say ...? This is a quiz on how to say a language in its own language. For example: "German" in German is "Deutsch". How well do you know foreign languages? Worldwide Greetings! Easy 15 Q draculanut31 Mar 13 03 6795 plays 3 How do you say . . . in Tagalog? Try to see if you can translate these words. It will either be Tagalog into Engish, or the other way. Oh yeah! Please tell me if I make any mistakes. I'm making this for my mom. Thanks. Enjoy :)) Filipino Very Easy 5 Q DoubleTnDoubleD Mar 17 01 1950 plays