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Why do people say "god bless you" when you sneeze?

  • password
    Never understood the reason for telling people "god bless you" after they sneeze. If you were blessed by god, would you ever need to sneeze in the future?
    I ask this question because it really makes no sense to me why someone thinks that they have the power to bless someone when they sneeze. I do remember a couple of days ago there was a girl in front of me at Kroger's waiting to pay and she let loose with a squeak of a sneeze and the teenager in front of her turns around a says god bless you, she looked right at him and said thanks, but seeing how you have been staring at my chest since I got in line, I think god has already blessed me. The kid was speechless and the girl working the register looked at him while laughing and said she would pray for him, he was so embarrassed that I felt bad for the kid.
  • justincredible
    "You are sooooo good looking."

    [video=youtube;o2dWtK3tRpo][/video]
  • gorocks99
    Honestly? I think it's because, way back in the day, people thought a sneeze was your soul trying to escape the body. Saying "God Bless You" kept it in. Or some stupid shit like that.

    Now people just say it because they've been saying it forever.
  • The Equalizer
    I think it had to do with the plague. if you sneezed there was a decent chance you could wipe out your village so it was to ward it off.
  • power i
    When you sneeze, you actually stop breathing. So someone felt it was necessary to say "God bless you" so the person wouldn't die.
  • Steel Valley Football
    The checkout line story is fabricated.
  • gorocks99
    Steel Valley Football;1241043 wrote:The checkout line story is fabricated.
  • Steel Valley Football
    gorocks99;1241050 wrote:

    It would have been faster to type that.
  • like_that
    Steel Valley Football;1241129 wrote:It would have been faster to type that.
    You obviously don't get it.

    /svf
  • Steel Valley Football
    Ya huh.
  • said_aouita
    Same reason people own pit bulls.

    Stupidity.
  • Heelz
    It was either your soul trying to escape or your body trying to get rid of evil spirits .
  • Steel Valley Football
    The answer is unknown. It's all speculation.
  • gorocks99
    Scholars maintain that the translation was lost hundreds of years ago.
  • Laley23
    It may be unknown, but Im sure whenever it started there was a reason behind it. I doubt someone just randomly said God Bless you.
  • believer
    "God bless you" was designed to annoy guys like Sleeper. ;)
  • password
    Steel Valley Football;1241043 wrote:The checkout line story is fabricated.
    Story is not fabricated. That is the reason I started wondering why people even make the comment to people that sneeze.
  • gerb131
    Easier to say than gezoomtight.
  • password
    Why say anything? I don't see people saying anything to people when they cough, except telling them to cover their mouth next time.
  • O-Trap
    password;1241400 wrote:Why say anything? I don't see people saying anything to people when they cough, except telling them to cover their mouth next time.
    Traditionally, I believe it had something to do with the (untrue, as I recall) belief that your heart stops beating when you sneeze, which doesn't happen when you cough.
  • password
    O-Trap;1241408 wrote:Traditionally, I believe it had something to do with the (untrue, as I recall) belief that your heart stops beating when you sneeze, which doesn't happen when you cough.
    So there is no real reason to make the comment to anyone that is still standing?
  • O-Trap
    password;1241420 wrote:So there is no real reason to make the comment to anyone that is still standing?
    Well, the belief was that it only stops for a fraction of a second, so nobody would have been falling over, I don't think.

    Today, it has been adopted as the polite gesture. As with most colloquial gestures, they really don't serve a purpose other than being polite. No different than saying "hi" to someone you obviously see and who obviously sees you.
  • Steel Valley Football
    password;1241383 wrote:Story is not fabricated. That is the reason I started wondering why people even make the comment to people that sneeze.

    Not buyin' it.
  • Steel Valley Football
    password;1241420 wrote:So there is no real reason to make the comment to anyone that is still standing?
    The same can be said of many other customs that are considered good manners. For ex, women are perfectly capable of opening the door themselves, but many men do it for them anyway.