So when someone coughs I'll have something polite to say...
2006-08-30 06:44:40 · 21 answers · asked by Jupiter 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
"Cover your mouth, please" would be appropriate. Or try "Have you seen a Doctor about that cough?" Whatever you do, don't begin pounding them on th back like my Dad used to do!
2006-08-30 06:52:44 · answer #1 · answered by Jimbo 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Here is an explanation as to why we say "God bless you" after someone sneezes. There is nothing like that for a cough. Because coughing often drys out your throat, you could ask if they need water. That would be polite.
"The custom of saying "God bless you" after a sneeze was begun literally as a blessing. Pope Gregory the Great (540-604 AD) ascended to the Papacy just in time for the start of the plague (his successor succumbed to it). Gregory (who also invented the ever-popular Gregorian chant) called for litanies, processions and unceasing prayer for God's help and intercession. Columns marched through the streets chanting, "Kyrie Eleison" (Greek for "Lord have mercy"). When someone sneezed, they were immediately blessed ("God bless you!") 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. "
2006-08-30 13:55:06 · answer #2 · answered by still 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I only say God Bless You for a sneeze, like others I get angry when people cough & don't cover their mouths, that is very ignorant, some people just don't care about the rest of us, it only takes a second to cover your mouth, think about the rest of us, try being nice for a change.
2006-09-03 13:39:56 · answer #3 · answered by beautie 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
You say "God bless you" when someone sneezes because a long time ago, people thought your soul might be lost when you sneezed. There is no need to say it when someone coughs, although I guess if you choose to, what would it hurt?
2006-08-30 13:51:16 · answer #4 · answered by Okkieneko 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
In the old times, they thought that if someone sneeze, his life, might go with his sneeze. It's sneeze, not cough!!
2006-08-30 13:48:39 · answer #5 · answered by alfonso 5 · 2⤊ 0⤋
i have wondered the same thing. i'm confused as to whether i should acknowledge the cough or what? lol. and when i say 'bless you' they say " i didn't sneeze. "
2006-08-30 13:47:36 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
"God bless you" doesn't work for you for a cough?
2006-08-30 13:46:45 · answer #7 · answered by nyboxers73 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
if it's a bad cough, usually i'll say "are you ok?" =T
2006-08-30 14:27:48 · answer #8 · answered by sasmallworld 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Robitussin. :) Haven't you seen the commercial!!?
2006-09-02 22:55:04 · answer #9 · answered by somebrowning 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Robitussin, of course!
2006-08-30 13:50:27 · answer #10 · answered by redd_apples 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋