the phrase 'bless you' when someone sneezes. Where did it originate.?

Answer 1

Hi,

I would like to answer your question, I'm listing the actual origin of this practice and superstitions associated with this practice below.

Origins

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 blessing. 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.

Superstition

Other explanations 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 simply 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. Both of the statements are untrue.

you can refer to more info at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_you

Answer 2

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 blessing. 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.

Other explanations 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 simply as a response for an event that wasn't well understood at the time.
(Quoted from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_you )

Also check out:
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.asp

Answer 3

In Britain there is a very old nursery rhyme called "ring 'o ring 'o roses" in which there is a verse " atishoo, atishoo, all fall down". This goes back to the times of the plague (Pneumonic version) which was characterised by initial sneezing prior to the rest of the symptoms and then probable death. Perhaps the "bless you" comes from these times and expresses hope that the sneeze is innocent in origin.A grammar school teacher once said that when someone sneezes, it medically proven that your heart stops for that second. In other words, it skips a beat. Thus, "God bless you" as a prayer for you to restore the beating.There is no truth whatever in this tale of hearts stopping, or 'missing a beat', when a person sneezes.

Answer 4

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 simply 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. Both of the statements are untrue.

Answer 5

Several centuries ago, a sneeze was seen as an early sign of illness and the majority of the population was Catholic and believed that blessing the person right after a sneeze would somehow prevent a potential illness. Now it's just courteous.

Answer 6

The phrase began as a blessing, really. It started in the mid-500s, and the blessing was supposed to help prevent infection by the plague, which was rampant at the time.

Answer 7

I maybe wrong but I think it comes from the era of the great plaque, sneezing was associated with it and you start sneezing people 'blessed you' cos you didn't have long to live

Answer 8

In the Dark Ages people believed that evil spirits could take over the body and make one ill. Sneezing was said to be the body's way of rejecting this evil and so to counteract it, someone would say " Bless You ! ".

Answer 9

I read somehwere years ago that for that second that you sneeze your brain "cuts off", and of course it is dangerous, so the saying bless you came about as you are still alive thereafter, for example driving your vehicle and sneezing, your brain cuts off for such a short period of time that it does not really affects you. Whether it is true I do not know but I would imagine it is, as a sneeze is a brain activity for that short second.........

Answer 10

In medieval, there used to be a belief that whoever sneezes throws out the demon inside his/her body. That's why people say "god bless you" when someone sneezes..
During the plague epidemic in 16th century, it was obligated by the Pope, to say these words to anybody who sneezes.