Hi all...
I hope you all can help settle a slight disagreement b/t DH and me.
Had a little chat about work today during our power outage thanks to leading bands of TS Ernesto. (It kept me off line and off TE Forums, bummer)
My boss was in a rather bizarre, chatty mood today...I don't think he had enough meetings to keep him busy. But at one point, I sneezed, and he came over and said "Bless you." Then said, "Do you know why folks say "bless you" after a sneeze? Because your soul leaves your body and they say that so it will come back. Well...that's the story, anyway."
I had always heard that your heart stops when you sneeze and folks say "Bless you" so that the soul DOESN"T leave the body during that time.
DH said, no way....it's a leftover from the days of the Black Death, the Plague. When folks sneezed, it was usually the start of Plague, and folks said "Bless you" so you wouldn't get it.
So, what IS the story??? Why do folks say "bless you" after a sneeze?
Thanks! And happy riding....
Regina
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Thread: OT - "Bless you" after sneeze
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09-01-2006, 04:33 PM #1
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OT - "Bless you" after sneeze
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09-01-2006, 04:41 PM #2
Don't whine
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I always heard the Black Plague thing.
"Ring around the Rosies" is from the Plague, too. And "ashes ashes we all fall down" refers to "atchoo" and the sneezing."If Americans want to live the American Dream, they should go to Denmark." - Richard Wilkinson
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09-01-2006, 04:53 PM #3
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Originally Posted by KnottedYet
Hmmmm....one vote for the Plague. I had heard about the "Ring around the Rosies" rhyme and the Plague....("Pocket full of posies" to hide the smell of death) but honestly, never sneezing. Interesting....
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09-01-2006, 04:57 PM #4
Sell crazy someplace else
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I learned the same as KnottedYet.
Edited: I just asked DH what he knew about it-he also learned Plague.Jennifer
“Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”
-Mahatma Gandhi
"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a habit."
-Aristotle
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09-01-2006, 04:58 PM #5
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I'd always heard that it was because the devil could jump into you when you sneezed, so the 'bless you' was to keep the devil from jumping in.
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09-01-2006, 05:02 PM #6
baskingshark
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In the UK, the "Ring Around a Rosie" rhyme is "Atishoo, atishoo" not "ashes ashes". When I first moved to the US, I thought it was a cute mispronunciation from my son, but then realized he was saying ashes becuase that's what he'd been taught at nursery school.
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09-01-2006, 07:08 PM #7
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From the Freak Flag archive:
In ancient times, it was customary to congratulate someone who just
sneezed, because sneezing was viewed as the body's way to expel evil
spirits. This view may have been based on the observation that
people sneeze more often when they are ill, and illness was thought
to be caused by evil spirits.
In the fourteenth century, the black plague came to Europe
accompanied by violent sneezing among those afflicted. The Pope
passed a law that anyone who sneezed was to be blessed by those
nearby, with the hope that death might be averted. Today, most
people still say "Bless you!" when someone sneezes.
The Germans were a bit less religious about their sneezing customs.
To this day, they say "gesundheit" [geh-ZUND-hyt] after someone
sneezes, which simply means "good health."
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