Why do we say 'bless you' after someone sneezes?

Answer 1

Go here: >http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_you

Answer 2

Origins
There are many theories regarding the origin of this custom.

One traditional explanation for the custom is that it began literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory I the Great (AD 540-604) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the bubonic plague in AD 590 (his successor succumbed to it). To combat the plague, Gregory ordered litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's intercession. When someone sneezed (seen as the initial onset of the plague), they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") in the hope that they would not actually develop the disease.

Nevertheless the phrase bless you or god bless you in Greek literature predates the ascention of Gregory.

"Bless you, my dear!" he said, and "bless you, bless you!" at the second and third sneeze.
-- Apuleius, The Golden ***, AD 150
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Superstition
Other theories are based on superstitions and urban legends about sneezing and what a sneeze entails. Some well known superstitions that may have contributed to bringing bless you into common use are:

The heart stops when you sneeze (it doesn't), and the phrase bless you is meant to ensure the return of life or to encourage your heart to continue beating.
A sneeze is the expulsion of some sort of evil, and the phrase is meant to ward off the evil's re-entry.
Your soul can be thrown from your body when you sneeze, and saying bless you prevents your soul from being stolen by Satan or some evil spirit. Thus, bless you or God bless you is used as a sort of shield against evil.
A sneeze is good luck and saying "bless you" is no more than recognition of the sneezer's luckiness.
Alternatively, it may be possible that the phrase began rather uninterestingly as a response for an event that wasn't well understood at the time.

Another urban legend states that you cannot open your eyes while you sneeze, or if you manage to your eyes will pop out. This is, as stated, nothing more than an urban legend.

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Modern use
In many English-speaking countries, the German equivalent, gesundheit (which roughly translated means "good health!") is proffered after sneezing.

In some parts of Australia, the expression is also used when a person belches or breaks wind; this usage is primarily an indication that the blesser has not been offended by the gaseous expulsions of the blessed. This is also true in the rural areas of New Zealand and in Auckland.

Answer 3

There are lots of stories about this.
In most European languages and cultures it is usual to wish someone good health or good luck when they sneeze. The words used also sound a bit like a sneeze. (Bless you in English, Gesundheit in German).
Sneezing can be the first sign of disease, so the fashion may have started to wish someone good luck in the hope that they didn't have the plague.
Stories about the soul briefly leaving the body when you sneeze are probably a more recent elaboration of the custom.

Answer 4

This is what I was told, there are two reasons

1) when you sneeze your heart does stop. That is a proven fact. That is one reason that we say Bless You.

2) Back in the olden days, when someone would sneeze alot of people thought that the you were be possesed by the devil, so there for they would say God Bless You.

I know that this one is far fetched, but this is what I was told.

Answer 5

It's to do with the Black Death (i think - anyway i know for sure it was some epidemic years ago). Sneezing was one of the symptoms, so if someone would sneeze then other people would say "bless you" - meaning "you're going to die soon". In France if you sneeze a second time then people say "and your friends too"
Interesting huh?!

Answer 6

There a few possible explanations:

Its a throwback to the Black death (bubonic plague) which almost wiped out Europe, when someone sneezed it was seen as a symptom of the plague and it was believed the person was going to die.

OR its a reference to someone with evil spirits inhabiting their soul, the sneeze was supposed to be it leaving.

OR it was thought to have been believed that a persons soul could leave their body with a sneeze so people would 'bless you' when they seen it happen.

Answer 7

Bless you after someone sneezes ,derives from ..the black death here in U K ,during medieval times,when a person sneezed, it was a sign of the plague , black death.. it showed that" person was dieing from the plague, and he / she was being blessed by others,it's a British thing..lol

Answer 8

This tradition of saying bless you, apparently goes back to Medievil times.

When some one years ago sneezed, it was more often than not a sign of an illness on its way. Needless to say having a severe illness years ago would be a lot more serious than today with results for sufferes often fatal. Therefore Bless you was said in case they died.

Answer 9

It goes back to the days of the great plague. The first sign of the plague was sneezing. People would say 'Bless you' in the hope that you wouldn't develop the full symptons.

Answer 10

When you say "Bless you", you must say it sincerely, wishing or hoping there's nothing wrong with that person. It's common that a sneeze, come due to some allergy or some disease from the respiratory routes, so it is good to say that because.... we are humans, and everybody knows what means "be ill". Beyond being good education, I believe that it's for empathy.

Answer 11

It is related to the Black Death. One of the initial symptoms of the virus was sneezing. So when someone sneezed the thought was that the person had the disease and was not long for the world.

By the way the nursery rythme Ring 'o Ring 'o roses is about the Black Death.
'Ring o Ring o Roses' (The disease cause mottling of the skin that was similar to a rose).
'A pocket full of poses' (The smell of flowers was thought to ward off the evil that caused the Black death)
'A tissue, A tissue' (The sneezing).
'We all fall down' (Death)