2007-03-18 23:03:14 · 10 answers · asked by Suki 2 in Society & Culture ➔ Etiquette
It's a custom from medieval times when people believed that sneezing might cause your soul to leave your body for an instant or might actually cause death. A quick blessing was given so that an evil spirit didn't snatch up their soul and take it.
ETA: For others who are saying that your heart stops when you sneeze, please do some research. It does not.
2007-03-18 23:07:51 · answer #1 · answered by Some Guy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
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.
[edit] 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. A sneeze takes place in a shorter ammount of time than a heartbeat and also the heart beats because a small part of it called the SA node has a "pacemaker" activity. What this means is that there is a type of electrical cycle going on that triggers beats roughly once every second. Sneezing, nor any other normal bodily activity, can change this electrical cycle, so the heart keeps beating.), 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. Due to this some people believe that it is unlucky to say thank you, as this allows the evil to return.
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......
[edit] Modern use
In many English-speaking countries, the German equivalent, gesundheit (which means "health"), is used after sneezing or coughing.
[edit] References
Dr.Tom Wilson of Washington University School of Medicine. 1998. [1]
Opie, Iona, and Moira Tatum. A Dictionary of Superstitions. Oxford University Press; Oxford, 1992. ISBN 0-19-282916-5
Snopes Urban Legends - Bless You!
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bless_you"
Category: English phrases
2007-03-19 07:55:44 · answer #2 · answered by dumpllin 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are many suggested reasons for saying "Bless you" after someone sneezes. These can range from sources of Pliny in Greek history as perhaps a polite recognition of the sneeze, or of some possible good fortune coming the sneezer's way, to trying to commend a soul to God as sneezing was one of the first signs of bubonic plague, to trying to bless the soul back into the body after its supposed escape (the sneeze) should the devil be near trying to steal the escaping soul.
2007-03-19 06:53:23 · answer #3 · answered by phoenix 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
This comes from england when the black plague was around.
sneezing was the first sign of having the plague. so if you sneezed people would bless you as a way of praying that you dont have the plague and also giving you blessing just in case you were destined to die.
2007-03-19 06:27:20 · answer #4 · answered by Frederick Hubbard 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I learned about this in English. They say bless you because there was some old theory that your heart stops when you sneeze (which it does) and back then nobody knew it could start again and that you wouldn't die, so they said bless you hoping God would keep you alive. We say it today just because we're used to it and it's polite. :)
2007-03-19 06:15:59 · answer #5 · answered by AEagleLuv 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋
Because heart stops beating while we sneeze.
2007-03-19 06:07:06 · answer #6 · answered by Sheeth 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
and a blessing to ward off the plague.
2007-03-19 06:16:36 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
cuz when you sneeze it sounds like your saying "God bless you"...
2007-03-19 09:08:55 · answer #8 · answered by Ellis M 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
coz ur heart stops beating when u sneez...
2007-03-19 08:20:22 · answer #9 · answered by enitsirhc21 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
ya suri and some guy are right
2007-03-19 06:22:16 · answer #10 · answered by w32(virus) -- am'back 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋