Hey folks, so I am a non-believer but I still say "bless you" when my wife sneezes. She is agnostic but I feel like it's polite in some wierd way. It is a bad habit and hard to break. I guess I just have to talk to her about it. Anyway have you ever been in a situation where someone you love or respect sneezes and you catch yourself saying bless you? What do you say, if anything?

Prosit in Swedish, terveydeksi in Finnish, but mostly I use the German gesundheit.

People here should say "Gesundheit"

But most I know say "Ich hoffe es zerreist dich!" which means "I hope you blow up"

Damn, I need to start using that phrase instead!

I always say "Bless you" because that's the polite thing to do here. Not saying "bless you" when someone sneezes is rude. It's not literally blessing them, it's just what we do. Like if someone walks into you here, you still say "sorry" to them for bloody hurting you. lol

I like the french version: santé
It means health... if you sneeze, it means you're not fully healthy, so we wish you a bit of health.
In portuguese, it ends up being "saúde"... but I still use the french version, because it resembles the standard, religious based "santinho", which comes from saint... and so people don't find what I say very strange and just move along.

Either that, or I just don't say anything... why should I? It makes no sense. Why don't people say something when you cough? I mean, a cough could represent a much serious condition, because you're expelling something from your lungs, while a sneeze only expels stuff from your nose.

And what do you say when someone pukes?

Gesundheit!

I don't get my panties in a bunch if I hear someone say "bless you" it to someone else, but for me personally, it is rude once you know I prefer you not respond that way to me. It would be like offering a Jewish friend pork. That is your thing, not mine.

When I sneeze if you insist on expressing concern simply say "Are you ok". That is the atheist "bless you". But people who use it have to know it's literal superstitious roots. You can say it is watered down now but that does not change the fact that when originally used people literally thought that if they did not invoke a blessing from god on you when you sneezed, your soul could escape out of your body.

(June 26, 2013 at 6:30 am)pocaracas Wrote: And what do you say when someone pukes?

"Not on the rug! NOT ON THE RUG!"