The response to sneezing is a customary verbal acknowledgement, blessing, or polite phrase uttered by a witness to another person's sneeze. The practice is widespread across languages and cultures, though its form, content, and the degree to which any response is expected vary considerably. In English-speaking countries the usual response is "(God) bless you", and less commonly in the United States and Canada, the borrowed German word "Gesundheit", meaning "health". In most non-English-speaking cultures with a customary response, the phrase used is a wish for health or a long life, although references to God are also common; in a few traditions, particularly in East Asia, nothing is typically said and the sneezer may instead excuse themselves.
Origins and folklore The convention of acknowledging a sneeze appears to have ancient roots and is found, in some form, across classical, medieval and pre-modern cultures. In ancient Greece and Rome, a sneeze was treated as an omen sent by the gods and could be interpreted as either favourable or unfavourable depending on the circumstances and timing. Roman responses included Salve! ("be well") and Iuppiter conservet ("may Jupiter preserve [you]"), and the involuntary, spontaneous nature of the sneeze was central to its perceived significance. The most widely repeated origin story for the English phrase "bless you" attributes the custom to Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great), who is said to have instructed Christians during a plague that struck Rome in 590 to respond to sneezes (viewed as an early symptom) with a brief prayer for the sneezer. Other proposed origins include the belief that the soul could be temporarily expelled from the body during a sneeze, leaving the sneezer briefly vulnerable to demonic possession, and the older idea that the heart momentarily stopped during a sneeze; both have been documented as folk explanations but neither has any physiological basis. The practice was not in continuous use as the dominant Christian response throughout this period, and the modern blessing convention was probably established by repeated reinforcement of multiple overlapping superstitions rather than a single decree.
Common themes Across languages with a customary response, the phrase chosen tends to fall into one of several recurring categories:
Wishes for health. German Gesundheit, Spanish Salud, Italian Salute, Swahili Afya, Hebrew livri'oot, and many Slavic expressions (Russian Будь здоров, Polish Na zdrowie) all literally mean "health" or "be healthy". Wishes for long life. Mandarin Chinese bǎi suì ("a hundred years"), Tamil āyusu nūru ("a hundred-year life"), Polish Sto lat ("a hundred years"), Turkish Çok yaşa ("live long"), and Nepali chiranjeevi bhawa ("may you live long") all wish the sneezer extended life. Religious blessings. English "(God) bless you", Irish Dia linn ("God be with us"), Welsh Bendith Duw arnat ti ("God's blessing on you"), and Arabic and Urdu phrases invoking God's mercy all frame the response as a religious blessing. Confirmation of truth. In a few languages, a sneeze is said to confirm that something just spoken is true. Czech Je to pravda ("it is true"), Croatian Istina! ("truth!") and Slovenian Res je ("it is true") reflect this older folk interpretation of the sneeze as an involuntary affirmation. Several languages distinguish between successive sneezes, with the response changing on a second or third sneeze. Examples include the French à tes souhaits ("to your wishes") / à tes amours ("to your loves"), the Spanish Jesús / María / José, and the Polish escalations through Na zdrowie ("to health") / Sto lat ("a hundred years"). In Old French, a chain of three sneezes was associated with health, love, and finally a wish that "yours [sneezes] last forever".
Cultures with no customary response In several East Asian cultures, including Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese, it is not customary to acknowledge another person's sneeze, and doing so can be perceived as unnecessary or even slightly rude. Instead, the sneezer typically apologises briefly with phrases such as Japanese sumimasen ("excuse me"), Korean sillyehamnida, or Mandarin bùhǎoyìsi. In several other languages including Vietnamese and Kannada, adults' sneezes are not usually acknowledged, although a sneeze by a child may attract a short blessing or wish for health from an older relative.
Responses by language
See also Photic sneeze reflex Snatiation
References
Explanatory notes
External links The dictionary definition of sneeze at Wiktionary