Sneezing--"God bless you"?

[odedvard]

How or why did saying "God bless you" become associated as an expression one says to another after the other sneezes? I've found some reasons listed below, but, somehow, I don't think any of them are very legitimate:

-When someone sneezes his heart stops and saying "God bless you" means "I'm glad your heart started again."

-Saying "God bless you" when you sneeze keeps the devil from flying down your throat.

-When someone sneezes, say "God bless you and may the devil miss you."

-When you sneeze your soul tries to escape and saying "God bless you" crams it back in (said by Millhouse in an episode of The Simpsons).

Sneeze on Monday for health,
Sneeze on Tuesday for wealth,
Sneeze on Wednesday for a letter,
Sneeze on Thursday for something better,
Sneeze on Friday for sorrow,
Sneeze on Saturday, see your sweetheart tomorrow,
Sneeze on Sunday, safety seek.

One for sorrow
Two for joy
Three for a letter
Four for a boy.
Five for silver
Six for gold
Seven for a secret, never to be told.

And lastly, a sneeze before breakfast is a sign that you will hear exciting news before the end of the day.

[prstudio]

i heard the wives tale that a sneeze is the evil spirits leaving you...

so they say God Bless you afterwards

[Marz]

Actually.. The part about your heart stopping is probably the most believable.. As I've done research into this as well.. Your heart does stop for a split second when you sneeze, that's why your heart pounds fast when you are done.. And you feel slightly warmer throughout.. So you say God Bless You for having your heart come back to life per say :)

[odedvard]

wive tale??? do you mean wise tale?

[Coppertop]

Actually, it dates back to old england, where they would say "god bless you" whenever someone sneezed, because it was believed that the person had a cold. Saying "god bless you" was supposed to ask god to help the sorry person who was infected.

the weird things I know.

[lostinbeta]

Playamarz is correct, your heart does stop beating for a split second, but I am not sure if anyone knew that when saying "God Bless You" after a sneeze was started. I've also heard that people used to believe it was your soul trying to escape, perhaps thats how it started?

Or as coppertop stated... could be that.

Odedvard: wives tale is correct... makes no sense, but that's what it is.

[reverendflash]

Originally posted by Phil Jayhan
I always heard that it stopped the devil phrom entering your body during the sneeze; Thats like phorm the 16th century or so;

pj :P

yeah, but you believe frogs live in rocks...

;)

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[lostinbeta]

Originally posted by reverendflash
yeah, but you believe frogs live in rocks...

;)

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

What? You have never heard of the geopetrificus ribbitus?

[reverendflash]

Phil:

http://www.courses.rochester.edu/eaves/maxenglish/thbt.gif

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[prstudio]

old wives tales, are explanations supposedly concocted by a bunch "old wives" sitting around talking...

[BadMagick]

Originally posted by Phil Jayhan
Stay Tuned - Coming Soon, Phrogs that live in Rocks, phound all over the world in mining sites.....:P:P
Since when do the French live in rocks?

[BadMagick]

I dunno why, but I always say "God Bless You," or at least "Bless You" whenever someone sneezes. I always said it cause I heard your heart stops ... it's my way of saying, "Good to have you back"

[Cello]

Coppertop is almost right ;)

It is from old England but relates to the black death (or Bubonic, or Great Plague) of 1665 which was carried and spread by rats. Starting to sneeze (at that time) usually meant that you'd contracted the disease for which there was no cure.

Hence the 'God bless you' - very much an act of kindness and caring.

Incubation took a mere four to six days and when the plague appeared in a household, the house was sealed, thus condemning the whole family to death. These houses were distinguished by a painted red cross on the door and the words, 'Lord have mercy on us'. At night the corpses were brought out in answer to the cry,' Bring out your dead', put in a cart and taken away to the plague pits.

Interestingly, the playground song, A Ring-a-ring of Roses also comes from this period (ends in 'all fall down', ie die). It was believed that holding a posy of flowers to the nose kept away the plague.

[RelandR]

Originally posted by Phil Jayhan
I always heard that it stopped the devil phrom entering your body during the sneeze; Thats like phorm the 16th century or so;

pj :P

^^That's basically what I've always heard...


..somehow they thought back then that you were vulnerable to being posessed at the moment of sneezure - and that a blessing from God would thwart satans entrance

[edit : allthough cello's vers makes sense /edit]

[Kitiara]

Actually, the rhyme "one for sorrow, two for joy" isn't applied to sneezing over here, it's applied to magpies. :)

[prstudio]

one for sorrow, two for joy?

say huh?

[lostinbeta]

Originally posted by Cello
Interestingly, the playground song, A Ring-a-ring of Roses also comes from this period (ends in 'all fall down', ie die). It was believed that holding a posy of flowers to the nose kept away the plague.

Actually, the song is Ring-A-Round the Rosy, which referred to the strange red rings people got on their skin from the plague. And it was believed that if you filled your pockets full of posies (type of flower) that it would keep the plague away, hence the "pocket full of posies" line ;)

[prstudio]

well i heard...























ok i got nothing:geek:

[Coppertop]

cold/plague - yeah, thats what I ment.

and I knew that ring around the rosie thing too.

god I'm smart :nerd:

[Cello]

Well, there ya go - didn't know that Lost :beam:

[lostinbeta]

Yeah, if you think about it that song is very morbid

Ring-A-Round the Rosy
Pocket Full of Posies
Ashes Ashes
We All Fall Down

Ashes Ashes refer to the burning of the people died from the plague and we all fall down is them all dying.

Whoever made this a childrens song was seriously messed up :P

[BadMagick]

There are other children's songs that are quite morbid. I can't think of any other ones off the top of my head, but I remember someone explaining to me 2 other popular playground songs that involved death and whatnot...

[lostinbeta]

Most children songs (and many stories) are morbid, very true. I remember reading a book of childrens stories to my niece, and although I can't remember which stories they were from, but here are some things that stood out to me....

1) Baking live birds in a pie
2) A crow coming down and pecking a ladies eye out
3) Shoving a witch in an oven (we know where this is from)
4) London Bridge is Falling Down (song)
5) Pushing an old man down the stairs

To be honest... I found that whole book incredibly disturbing, yet all the stories are classic childrens stories and whatnot.

[reverendflash]

and yet we all still continue to tell them to kids, perpetuating the tradition...

we are a very weird society...

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

[lostinbeta]

Originally posted by reverendflash
and yet we all still continue to tell them to kids, perpetuating the tradition...

we are a very weird society...

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif

You know what's funny about that statement?

Even though as I was reading the book and thinking how messed up these stories were... I did finish reading the book to my niece. :x

But yeah, I agree.



Sorry for the thread hijacking, I will shut my trap now.

[reverendflash]

Originally posted by lostinbeta
You know what's funny about that statement?

Even though as I was reading the book and thinking how messed up these stories were... I did finish reading the book to my niece. :x


we all do, lost... we all do...

sick society, I say, sick society...

:beam:

Revhttp://aulman.com/rev.gif