What does gazuntight mean?

Question

When someone sneezes one might say "bless you" or "gazuntight". Is the German translation of bless you?

Answer 1

Yes, Gesundheit is the German equivilant of 'Bless You'. Literally it means health in general, not only as a command to have good health; it also functions as a noun meaning health in general.

Answer 2

“Gesundheit!” Gesundheit (German pronunciation (help·info)) (IPA pronunciation: [ɡəˈzʊntˈhaıt]) is the German and Yiddish word for health. When a person sneezes, German and Yiddish speakers typically say Gesundheit! to wish them good health. This expression has found its way into the English language via Yiddish speaking Ashkenazi Jews (gezundheit) who immigrated in large masses to the United States during the early twentieth century. It is sometimes used instead of the more common "bless you".

Gesundheit is also used in Australia. It was imported to South Australia through the Evangelical Lutheran refugees who fled the established Lutheran church in the east of Germany. These Silesian immigrants spoke their own language until the two World Wars caused a dramatic decline in the use of German in Australia. Gesundheit was used until recent times by the majority English speaking population. Its usage seems now to have declined.

The expression is also found in Jewish custom. Although not technically part of Jewish Law (Halacha), the custom of saying gezuntheit, tzu gezunt, labreeyut, or God bless you is considered a mannerly custom. It is written in the Talmud that the patriarch Jacob was the first person to become ill before passing on. Before that, people would sneeze and die. When God infused the soul into Man, He "blew it" into Adam's nostrils. Thus, when it came time for the soul to be returned to its Maker, it would leave through the same portal it arrived.

There are different theories regarding the origin of this phrase. One idea is that the expression stems from the Middle Ages when the Bubonic Plague was threatening European health. In this case the person saying gesundheit was actually wishing good health upon themselves, since they may have been infected by the one who sneezed. During this time it was also commonly believed that sneezing made one's body vulnerable to evil spirits. Thus another plausible explanation is that gesundheit was a blessing to ward off demons while the sneezer's body was defenseless.

Superstitions date back as early as Ancient Greece (ref. Herodotus, History 440 BC). The soul was thought to leave the body through the nose upon death, so a powerful sneeze was thus considered an ominous event.

In Roman times, the use of Gesundheit as a blessing after sneezing was outlawed for a brief period by the Emperor Maxiumus IV, as he felt that the Latin term 'beatus vos' was far superior to the German-Yiddish Gesundheit. In 120 B.C., Maxiumus' ruling was repealed, and Gesundheit continued, until present day, as the phrase of choice when blessing a person after they have sneezed.

Answer 3

Bless you! In England we say bless you after someone sneezes because, in the old days, people belived that when a person sneezed their soul would fly out of their body so people would say "bless you" to prevent the devil taking control of their body.

Answer 4

it's actually spelled Gesundheit (ge-zunt-hiit)

it is a reactionary statement to someone that sneezes.

It means loosely translated...To Your Health!
literally it means healthiness. (as a noun form)

It's more of a toast said aloud to make sure you are remembered.

Answer 5

it means bless you

Answer 6

yeah it means the same thing