2006-12-26 22:17:09 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Social Science ➔ Psychology
during the middle ages in europe, it was believed that the devil could be breathed in after a sneeze. hence you needed to be blessed. it's ingrained superstition.
2006-12-26 22:21:53 · answer #1 · answered by monochrome R 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
People say 'bless you' for one of three reasons with a sneeze.
1. They've been taught/saying it for so long so they just say it on instinct.
2. your heart stops abruptly when you sneeze and it's believed that saying 'bless you' will have god bless you if/should your heart not jump back in.
3. They believe that your spirit/soul flys out of you when you sneeze and saying 'god bless you' allows it to return to your body.
Why people dont say it with a cough...
Because....we were never taught to do so and there are no supersticious things that could/would happen to you if anyone didnt say anything while coughing...
plus, your heart doesnt stop while coughing. you're just simply trying to get something out of your throat.
2006-12-27 08:02:33 · answer #2 · answered by Nic : 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Is it because sneezing was one of the first symptoms of the Black Death, so 500 ish years ago, if you started to sneeze, you were pretty much a goner?
2006-12-27 06:27:02 · answer #3 · answered by lou b 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
i dotn know i read it somwhere taht when you sneeze your ribs or something ontract very tight and you do nt breathe in and some people sneeze so hard that it can be fatal
so people started saying god bless you
2006-12-27 06:27:04 · answer #4 · answered by carissa 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ah yes, people...why do they do the things they do. It would be nice if people said bless you to bless.
2006-12-27 06:20:48 · answer #5 · answered by ontheroadagainwithoutyou 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Not sure but dnt do it with ur eyes open or you'll have people saying 'AGrrrrr her eyeballs have popped out' instead of bless you.
2006-12-29 17:40:06 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
u can say bless you when someone coughs and start a new trend.
2006-12-27 06:25:40 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
my version is tht wen u sneeze ur soul also comes out n 2 help it bk 2 its place u blesss the peron....funny but mah grandma told me
2006-12-27 06:26:28 · answer #8 · answered by rhea 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it is an explosive reaction,unexpected
usually , it sounds like verball solution for situation
in serbian we say - nazdravlje! ( to your health)
2006-12-27 06:36:55 · answer #9 · answered by Srbo Sutaric 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
now THAT is a good question!
2006-12-27 06:18:51 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋