why do people say "bless you" when you sneeze, but not when you cough?
2006-07-20 04:52:52 · 21 answers · asked by yams 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Other - Society & Culture
BUT WHY NOT WHEN YOU COUGH....nobody has answered that
2006-07-20 05:03:29 · update #1
First of all....I don't say "bless you". Instead I use the word "Gesundheit" which is a german word meant to wish people good health. I have several friends who always respond with a hearty and happy "Goddess Bless You". As for why people say bless you? Many moons ago people thought that when you sneezed an evil spirit could get inside of your body. Saying bless you or god bless you was supposed to prevent this from happening. The superstition is not associated with coughing therefor people refrain from using the phrase for that. Just my two cents. Take care and I hope you have an amazing day!
2006-07-20 05:06:03 · answer #1 · answered by silent.peace 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Because we have no such custom for people when they cough or hiccup. In ancient times, it was believed that the soul left your body when you sneezed and that evil spirits could then enter. Blessing you was supposed to prevent this.
Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the
start of the plague. Gregory (who also invented the Gregorian chant) called for
litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for intercession. Columns marched
through the streets chanting, "Kyrie Eleison" (Greek for "Lord have mercy"). When
someone sneezed, they were immediately blessed 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.
The connection of sneezing to the plague is not the first association of sneezing with death.
In the Dark Ages, it was believed that your heart stopped momentarily when you sneezed.
You were, in effect, dead for an instant and had to be blessed. Many cultures, even some
in Europe, believe that sneezing expels the soul — the "breath of life"— from the body.
That doesn't seem too far-fetched when you realize that sneezing can send
tiny particles speeding out of your nose at up to 100 miles per hour!
We know today, of course, that when you sneeze, your heart doesn't stop, nor does
your soul get expelled, nor will your eyes pop out if you could keep them open. Also,
it's just about impossible to hold your eyelids open while you sneeze. They snap
shut by reflex. The nerves serving the eyes and the nose are closely intertwined,
and stimuli to the one often trigger some response in the other.
What does get expelled are hundreds upon thousands of microscopic germs.
The current advice when you sneeze is to cover your mouth with your arm rather
than your hand. That way, all those germs won't be on your hands when you
touch the countless things you're going to touch in the course of the day.
These days, one says "Bless you!" because it is expected, not out of concern
for the wellbeing of the sneezer's soul or a need to disassociate oneself from
the dying. During a multiple sneeze episode, bless once after the first sneeze
and once after the last. Blessing each time gets tiring.
2006-07-20 05:02:52 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because in ancient times ppl thought when you sneezed you released evil spirits so saying bless you was a customary way of congragulating the person who just sneezed and since people sneeze more often when they are sick saying bless you was a way to ask god to heal that person!Weird right?
2006-07-20 04:59:53 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
In English-speaking countries, it is common for at least one person to say "Bless you" after someone sneezes. Its origins are unclear, but it has been cited as far back in Western culture as 150 CE in Apuleius. One story is that since the final stage of the Black Plague was sneezing, anyone who sneezed was thought to be at death's door and was blessed for the ascension into heaven.
2006-07-20 04:59:19 · answer #4 · answered by Chris 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have heard that it originates out of a Celtic-Germanic tradition. It was believed that the soul was temporarily displaced from the body and needed a blessing to return safely. I have no idea why coughing was omitted from a blessing.
2006-07-20 05:01:34 · answer #5 · answered by The Stranger 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because back in the olden days they used to think that when you sneezed it had something to do with satan either trying to get into your body or coming out so they would say bless you so that you would be blessed and the devil would leave you.
2006-07-20 04:57:34 · answer #6 · answered by wisegal 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because people used to believe that when you sneezed your heart stopped so they would pray to god so that he would keep you alive. Your heart doesnt stop when you sneeze. People back then didn't believe the same thing about coughing I guess.
2006-07-20 04:57:05 · answer #7 · answered by Candee 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It was once believed that demons and evil spirits could enter your body when you sneezed. Supposedly, saying "bless you" protected you from such a fate.
Personally, I say "Gazoontight".
2006-07-20 04:57:01 · answer #8 · answered by rahkokwee 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Because your heart stops when you sneeze, but it doesn't when you cough.
And you are actually supposed to say "God bless you" not "bless you"
2006-07-20 04:56:12 · answer #9 · answered by Doreen A 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz your heart stops when you sneeze, and so "bless you" is supposed to have "saved you" and your heart or thought to save you in the olden days.. lol i think. . . nowadays, we just say it without knowing why, and just thinking of "bless you" as a kind gesture
2006-07-20 04:57:22 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋