Do you still say 'Bless You!' when people sneeze? What other things are there to say?

Question

My grandfather used to say 'Ochokorosho!', which he said was Russian. Is that right?

Answer 1

Yes, I say "Bless you" or "Gesundheit".

Answer 2

Yes I do still say "Bless you" when someone sneezes. I love the opportunity to give someone a little spoken blessing. I believe it makes a difference and does pass on good things to them. I use the phrase in many other situations too and it has a nice, soft, well-meaning feeling. It can get a little funny when someone sneezes once - "bless you", twice - "bless you", then if it keeps going if they have hay fever or an allergy it can get quite ridiculous and farcical, but a bit of a giggle is a good blessing as well.

Answer 3

Yes I still say bless you, but if its close familiy of friends I still count the sneezes as in:
1 for a wish
2 for a kiss
3 for a letter etc
no idea where it comes from though,
so if they sneeze once they get to make a wish
if twice they should expect a nice kiss etc
sounds really daft now im explaining it lol

Answer 4

I never say bless you when people sneeze. The reason people started doing it was because they thought your heart stopped for a second when you sneezed and if it didn't start again then you would be blessed at your time of death.
It may or may not be true that your heart stops or skips a beat but I think it is a dumb tradition and I don't do it.

Answer 5

They do not say "Jesus" in Spain, they say "Salud" or "Health." The tradition comes from the belief that the first sneeze was a sign of the Plague, and it is not without reason. It is a tradition, and politeness, now out-dated, that a sneeze was a sign of the devil, hence "God Bless you" in English. "Ring-a-ring-a-rosie..." is a tale of the symptoms ofn the plague. Plague sufferers initially had enhanced olfactory senses, but also smelled (a Pocket full of posies- a reference to those who brought something to put to their noses rather than smell excrement and death), then sneezes "A-ticshue, a-tsicsuhe, we all fall down."

Answer 6

actually god bless you started when the bubonic plague raged through london if you didnt say god bless you u were sure to catch the plague and fall down hence the nursery rhyme ring o roses i still say god bless wheneva i sneeze or someone else does theres not really much else u can say in whatever language u say it in it still means the same. also apparantly if u sneeze 3 or more times good luck is supposed to come yr way true or not i dont know now will someone pls pass the pepper

Answer 7

I will always say 'Bless You' to friends and occasionally to strangers. I never liked Guslundhiet (or however it may be spelt) and so don't use it. I just think it sounds a bit.. heavy!? No matter.

My favorite is actually the french :

à vos souhaits (plural, formal)
à tes souhaits

which translates as - to your wishes (said as if drinking a toast).
Love that but you can't really say it to english speakers without sounding like a condescending idiot. So I stick with bless you mainly.

Answer 8

I just say bless you or if I'm in on my own when I sneeze I stupidly say bless me, guess you get used to people saying bless you hey.

Answer 9

which mean bless the child right but anyway u suppose to say bless you because when u sneeze ur heart stops

Answer 10

yeah I say God Bless You lol kind of a habit

others say guozuntight or something like that donno what that means

but one time i had a teach that told us that during the middle ages it was a common belief that the spirit came out when one sneezed so they would say God Bless You so that the spirit would go right back in LOL kinda funny I guess

Answer 11

I still say bless you even is I dont the people and I am out
have fun