"God bless you"

[Sweetdeath]

The next time someone gets offended that I dont say "bless you" I am going to sprinkle some  water on them. XD

[Magdalena]

When someone sneezes, in Spanish you say, "salud" which means health, or you can say, "Jesus." When I was little, a man sneezed and I said, "Jesus" he looked at me and said, "I am a Jew, and I have nothing to do with that man!" Ever since, I have never said anything to anybody when they sneeze. 

Lol, sorry to laugh at you, but that man is kinda awesome.

Also, I never quite  understood the socialogical obligation to say something when someone sneezes. I think i'm going to stop saying anything all together.

It's ok, laugh, before that, I said "salud" to someone else after they sneezed and they said, "Salud? (health), that is not health, that is a disease." 

Another time, someone sneezed and I said nothing. She said, "It is so sad to sneeze in a barn." Meaning there were only animals around who didn't know they're supposed to say bless you when one sneezes. 

I have had enough bad experiences with this absurd custom. 

[Sweetdeath]

Poor magdalena!!
That second guy was rude. I'm kinda quick to snippy responses, so I prolly would of said domething along the lines of " I know, there's a talking ass   here."
Pffft, get over yourself mr.man. >___<
No one days shit when I cough or fart, lol!!

[Sandra Craft]

Perhaps we should ask sneezers if they have been possessed by a  demon.

Hmmm.  That might be considered a little personal.  Also, if they have been possessed by a demon things could get nasty very quickly.  Maybe a concerned look and an "are you all right?" would cover it without invoking the supernatural.

No one days shit when I cough or fart, lol!!

Why is that, I've always wondered?  You're expelling air violently in all three cases so why are only sneezes blessed?

[Ali]

I like the Seinfeld response to sneezing.  "You are soooo good looking!"  I doubt anyone would get offended then. 

[Firebird]

My family always said either "Bless you" or "Gesundheit" after sneezing, the latter meaning "health" in German, apparently. I'm not sure where they got that from.
I still say "Bless you" even now. My wife (who's a secular muslim) got really confused when she heard myself and the rest of my secular jewish family saying "Jesus Christ!" or "Jesus!" in response to something surprising. Had never really thought about it before, but then I realized how weird it really does seem, so now I'm trying to avoid saying it. I think I've mostly settled on "Holy shit!" Though then again, maybe that could still have some religious overtone...

As far as weird names, in my mind nothing beats former New Hampshire Congressman Dick Swett

[Sweetdeath]

I like the Seinfeld response to sneezing.  "You are soooo good looking!"  I doubt anyone would get offended then. 

I love that episode so much. xD!!

[Asmodean]

Wonder how this whole saying something to someone who sneezes thing start... What ever compelled people to say anything at all in such an event? Except perhaps "Want a tissue?"

[m.condon]

I still say "God Bless You" when someone sneezes and my atheist roommates kind of make fun of me for that but I am really just saying it out of habit. When people say that they will pray for me or tell me "God be with you" I try to take it as a positive thing but it all depends on context. I have had people use religious phrases without knowing it, or using it to convey a positive feeling towards me. But every now and then I hear someone condescend to me when saying that they will pray for me, or that jesus loves me.
I also like saying peace instead of goodbye. Its a secular equivalent to alot of the religious farewells, god bless yous, blessed bes, and it seems less permanent than a simple goodbye, it also leaves them with a good feeling

[Sweetdeath]

Wonder how this whole saying something to someone who sneezes thing start... What ever compelled people to say anything at all in such an event? Except perhaps "Want a tissue?"

I have a feeling it started in the middle ages. I don't know why. I just feel it did. xD

[Magdalena]

Wonder how this whole saying something to someone who sneezes thing start... What ever compelled people to say anything at all in such an event? Except perhaps "Want a tissue?"

I have a feeling it started in the middle ages. I don't know why. I just feel it did. xD

I believe it started because in that split second you sneeze, your heart stops beating.
I guess out of fear that your heart will not beat again after sneezing people began, in a way, asking god to help you.

[Asmodean]

I believe it started because in that split second you sneeze, your heart stops beating.
I guess out of fear that your heart will not beat again after sneezing people began, in a way, asking god to help you.

Obviously, some sort of evil pre-pacemaker and defibrilator implant technology.  ???

[The Magic Pudding]

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/respiratory/sneezing.htm

Wishing someone well after they sneeze probably originated thousands of years ago. The Romans would say "Jupiter preserve you" or "Salve," which meant "good health to you," and the Greeks would wish each other "long life." The phrase "God bless you" is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great, who uttered it in the sixth century during a bubonic plague epidemic (sneezing is an obvious symptom of one form of the plague).

The exchangeable term "gesundheit" comes from Germany, and it literally means "health." The idea is that a sneeze typically precedes illness. It entered the English language in the early part of the 20th century, brought to the United States by German-speaking immigrants.

Virtually every country around the globe has its own way of wishing sneezers well. People in Arabic countries say, "Alhamdulillah," which means, "praise be to God." Hindus say, "Live!" or "Live well!" Some countries have special sneezing responses for children. In Russia, after children are given the traditional response, "bud zdorov" ("be healthy"), they are also told "rosti bolshoi" ("grow big"). When a child sneezes in China, he or she will hear "bai sui," which means, "may you live 100 years."

­ For the most part, the various sneeze responses 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. There was also the misconception that the heart momentarily stops during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life.

I'm most familiar with the evil spirit invasion theory.

[Asmodean]

Hmm... How come The Asmo never tried to posess a sneezing thrall..? 

Maybe that explains the poor rates of success...

[Tank]

Hmm... How come The Asmo never tried to posess a sneezing thrall..? 

Maybe that explains the poor rates of success...

You have no nose so who knows if you'd had a nose you might have considered it.