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What do you say?

At my work, I started saying "good luck" when someone sneezes. I'm happy that its caught on! I have no problem saying "bless you" or "gesundheit" (I'm half German after all,) but am wondering what other people say, if anything, (which I sometimes say nothing.)

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pepperjones 8 Mar 25
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43 comments

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16

Gesundheit. I took German for 2 years and it basically means "to better health" or something like that. Or I could be interesting and say "Hail Satan." Lol.

12

I am from the Appalichian region and they say "skat there". The basis is that when you sneeze, you are expelling a bad spirit and you are telling that spirit to "skat", "get away from here".

9

I say, cover your mouth.

8

We don't comment when someone coughs, belches or breaks wind. The origins of blessing someone for sneezing are supposedly in that they might signifiy the beginning of a fatal illness (typically Bubonic Plague.) That's a long time gone, now.

So I say nothing. I actually makes me feel awkward when someone comments on me sneezing.

its actually the pneumonic form of the plague. People usually died within days. SO a sneeze portended doom and for those that believed a blessing was needed pretty quickly

Not so sure about "breaking wind". A colleague broke wind...accidentally and laud and another teachers said to him "GOD PROTECT US ALL'.

7

Ich bin ein Wiesbadener! Guten morgen fellow German! On this topic, I have gotten to where I say nothing at all. I have said Gesundheit in the past, but now I say nothing. I bristle at the expectation that anything at all needs to be said. Maybe I'm just getting cranky in my old age. LOL!

6

Got to say something-mom taught me manners.

5

Cover your mouth...

Hutch Level 7 Mar 25, 2018
5

I like the good luck idea!!

4

The obvious answer is "You are soooo good looking."

4

I say nothing at all and loathe when someone says "god bless you" to me. "Gesundheit" is acceptable if you must say something and "wow" is okay and a little phunny if I sneeze more than three times. If I'm in a mood, I'll give them the history behind their superstition in a very condescending way.

4

I like looking people in the eye and, with a straight face, tell them they're going to die of an anurism............................. Nah! I usually say nothing or Gesundheit. Gesundheit just means you're wishing them good health so I see no harm in it.

4

Sometimes I say nothing; sometimes I say "God blast you" because it seems irreverent all around.

4

I do say 'Bless' to my daughter but, and this is going to lose a bit in translation, it's an elongated 'Bleeeeeees' which is done more as a cutesy piss take, not to my daughter I hasten to add and it's also just habit 🙂

3

If they sneeze multiple times, I’ll say “that’s enough!”

3

Rather shout " cover your mouth you dirty basatard !!!"

2
2

Salute! Italian for good health.

2

I say bless you. It's a pretty general saying that covers the bases.
I don't say God bless you because if a God could I don't suppose they'd need a blessing.

1

I tend to say nothing.

1

5 in a row gets you a paid day off!

1

I say "bless you and all the people you blew away!"

1

or a varaiation of gesundheit, such as gusundiheight, or any other way to mis pronounce the word

1

Demons Begone! He he....

1

I don't say anything when someone coughs or hiccups or passes gas, although I often give a dirty look, so it's never made sense to me to say anything when someone sneezes.

1

If asked I simply say that I am not qualified to bless anyone.

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