poll coming

No, it's just polite.

yes, but i say it anyway.

i have never said it.

I think its meant to keep the devil out, they say when you sneeze it allows an opening for the devil to get in.

Quoted: No, it's just polite.

+1

too many people do not know how to be polite! How often to you see someone holding a door for someone else?

Quoted: No, it's just polite.

Bingo.

None of the above....

Quoted: None of the above....

so why do you say it or dont say it?

You should say "bless me" because that is how most disease is spread-by sneezing.

It is part polite and part old wise tale ,When you sneeze your heart stops for a milisecond and saying bless you is suppose to keep you soul safe from the devil

It is simply out of politeness.

It is either "Bless you" or "Gawddamn... that was a good one"


- BUCC_Guy

Quoted: Quoted: No, it's just polite. Bingo.

yep

I say it and don't think much about it. We all still say it down yonder in Texas.

Quoted: It is part polite and part old wise tale ,When you sneeze your heart stops for a milisecond and saying bless you is suppose to keep you soul safe from the devil

Thats what my Grand mother always said, and that's why I say it when someione sneezes around me.

I just say it cause it is polite.

Quoted: I just say it cause it is polite.

oh yeah and for that reason too

I've never understood this. I don't grasp how it could possibly be considered polite. So what, you took notice of my body having an allergic reaction to something in the environment. Who cares?

What, did you just watch that Seinfeld episode about this?

You're soooooo good lookin'

Salute!

I believe the practice goes back to the time of the Plague.  The Church instructed all to say a blessing in hopes of controlling the disease.  This was well before the advent of the germ theory.

We also said "Gesundheit" when I was a kid.  Mom was German.  Roughly translates to "good health."  Reminds me of the traditional Jewish toast of "nah'heim"  (forgive the misspelling) which I believe means "to health!"

Yes, it goes back to the days of the plague.

But no matter, it is considered polite.

Being polite and good manners is never out of style, improper, or old-fashioned.

When you behave in such a manner, you can and should expect the same from others.

It's polite, and chicks seem to like it when you say it.

I say it because it is polite, and I teach my children to be polite as well.  

I don't say it, because I'm not a xtian.

You have to say it, otherwise the evil spirit that the person just sneezed out will reposess their body!

Get the fuck away from me you disease ridden shit flea!

usually doesn't go over to well, but i rarely get sick!

Quoted: Don't even say "good luck".

But apparently you'll type it.


*snicker*

Mindless superstition.

Saying "Bless You" is the same thing as saying "You have contracted a fatal disease. May God have mercy on your soul... now get away from me!"

How this is considered to be polite, I will never understand.

Quoted: No, it's just polite.

+1

Quoted: Quoted: No, it's just polite. +1 too many people do not know how to be polite! How often to you see someone holding a door for someone else?

Often enough to know that I shouldn't be doing it anymore for all the prissy ass bitches on my campus who walk right on through (squeezing by me) like I'm a doorman and don't even consider saying thanks or holding the 2nd door for me!!!

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: No, it's just polite. +1 too many people do not know how to be polite! How often to you see someone holding a door for someone else? Often enough to know that I shouldn't be doing it anymore for all the prissy ass bitches on my campus who walk right on through (squeezing by me) like I'm a doorman and don't even consider saying thanks or holding the 2nd door for me!!!

Courtesy is a good thing.. It lets you weed those prissy bitches out of the "I'd hit it" category.  I was taught to open doors for people and the like, and every girl I've ever dated has told me they _really_ appreciate it.  Most are surprised and flattered.  Call it pie bait

I just say that I don't have the authority to bless someone, only a preist or god can do that.

I am neither.

so no, I don't say it.

Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: Quoted: No, it's just polite. +1 too many people do not know how to be polite! How often to you see someone holding a door for someone else? Often enough to know that I shouldn't be doing it anymore for all the prissy ass bitches on my campus who walk right on through (squeezing by me) like I'm a doorman and don't even consider saying thanks or holding the 2nd door for me!!! Courtesy is a good thing.. It lets you weed those prissy bitches out of the "I'd hit it" category.  I was taught to open doors for people and the like, and every girl I've ever dated has told me they _really_ appreciate it.  Most are surprised and flattered.  Call it pie bait

Lol, good point.

+1 on Just polite

Quoted: Why is it polite? I don't say it when someone coughs. To me it's just a superstition and I don't participate in superstitions. Don't even say "good luck".

+1

I was ready to ask with the cough analogy even before I read your post!

If someone's hacking up a lung, it would indicate they are in much worse health than if they were merely sneezing.  Why don't you say it to them?

You have to say "God Bless You" in New Mexico, or people think you are a Demon posessed Kerry supporter.

Do not say it.

From Snopes

Claim:   The origin of saying "Bless you!" when someone sneezes stems from an ancient desire to safeguard the sneezer's soul or to commend the dying to the mercy of God.
Status:   Undetermined.

Origins:   It's expected  
we'll say "Bless you!" (or "God bless!") when someone nearby sneezes, but does anyone really know why we do this? Are we trying to protect the sneezers from evil spirits? Are we fending off the Devil? Is this a remnant of an ancient recognition that sneezers aren't long for this world, thus we commend their souls to God even as we wash our hands of them? Are we congratulating them on their impending good luck? (As silly as this may sound now, sneezing was at one long-ago time seen as a fortuitous portent.)

Some questions, no matter how simple, don't have one knowable answer. Though a number of "explanations" exist for this custom, nothing points to any one of them being its origin.

Common among these explanations are:


At one time people believed a man's soul could be inadvertently thrust from his body by an explosive sneeze, thus "Bless you!" was a protective oath uttered to safeguard the temporarily expelled and vulnerable soul from being snatched up by Satan (who was always lurking nearby). The purpose of the oath was to cast a temporary shield over the flung-out soul which would protect it just long enough to regain the protection of the corporeal body.

Conversely, the sneeze itself was the expulsion of a demon or evil spirit which had taken up residence in a person. Therefore, although the "Bless you!" was again a protective charm meant to protect the sneezer from evil, in this version it was meant to ward off the re-entry of an evil spirit which a tormented soul had just rid itself of.

The heart was believed to momentarily stop during a sneeze (it doesn't), thus the "Bless you!" was uttered either as a supplication for life to return or as a congratulation upon its successful restart.

Others claim an association of the practice with particular dire diseases (most often the bubonic plague, or "Black Death," as it is sometimes known). They say an infected person's sneeze was sure sign he'd soon be pushing up daisies, thus the "Bless you!" was intended as a benediction to the nearly-departed, a way of commending his soul to the care of God now that he was beyond the help of anything in the mortal world.

Yet other folks echo the theme of other superstitions about sneezes, that these expulsions are either in themselves lucky or foretell good fortune coming the sneezer's way. For them, the "Bless you!" is a recognition of incoming good luck, possibly even an attempt on the blesser's part to attract a bit of it to himself.

Finally, some see the sneeze as a blessing bestowed by the sneezer upon the sneezed-upon. Answering a sneeze with "Bless you!" is seen as nothing more remarkable than replying "Good morning!" to the person who had just greeted you with the same phrase.
So many explanations -- each deeply believed -- for such a simple and often unquestioned practice. And we'll never know which one is right.

only old ladies say it

Okay, so then what DO you guys say?

Gesundtheit?

I say

1. Nothing

2. You ok?

3. Need some cold medicine?

4. Have you seen a doctor?

5. Dont sneeze on me.

6. Pass the straw j/k

snip

Quoted: We also said "Gesundheit" when I was a kid.  Mom was German.  Roughly translates to "good health."

+1

My dad was born in Germany, so thats what I was brought up to say.

Brian

Sorry to dissapoint all y'all.  But of course, the origin is to be found by us, teh jews.
We learn that Jacob wanted to tell his sons when the end (messiah) was going to come.  He obviously wanted to do this before he died - look in the bible and you'll see that he wstarts off his dying speech with something like "come close, so I can tell you the end...."  We learn in the talmud that Jocob actually BEGGED god to grow old and infirm prior to death, so that he would know when to reveal the end to his sons.  The talmud comments that prior to this request, men did not grow old and infirm, they merely sneezed and died.  The sneezing was not mystical or a bad spirit or anything.  It was just how people died. period.  Moses died when g-d "kissed" him, an allusion to Moses' breath being pulled out  of him.  A sneeze.  G-d did not want moses to appear infirm and aged since he led Israel until his death, and couldn't appear weak.  Thus, g-d allowed him to die the old way.

Whether you hold by the talmud or not is up to you.   But sneezing used to mean death - so we say "to health" in hebrew or "you should be well" in yiddish" or "god bless you" in english.  It's all teh same thing.  We are THANKING g-d for ALLOWING us to age so that we know when death is coming and not be caught unawares.

Who gives a fuck???

i said it to a stranger one time and they told me not to push my religion onto them. i got that burning sensation in my brain but i just let it go.

Quoted: snip Quoted: We also said "Gesundheit" when I was a kid.  Mom was German.  Roughly translates to "good health."   +1 My dad was born in Germany, so thats what I was brought up to say. Brian

Heh, in Russian the term is (and translates to- duh) "Be Healthy".

Silly English

I always though people said it because sneezing was a sign that you were becoming sick. If someone said "God bless you," then you would be blessed and hopefully you will not get sick.

It is "God bless you" by the way. I think people started taking the word God out of the phrase just so the liberals don't start bitching.