Where does the phrase god bless you come from

Good manners dictate that every sneeze should be followed by some variation of "bless you.

God bless you variants include God bless or bless you [1] is a common English phrase generally used to wish a person blessings in various situations, [1] [2] especially to "will the good of another person", as a response to a sneeze , and also, when parting or writing a valediction. Numbers , and by Christians, since the time of the early Church as a benediction , as well as a means of bidding a person Godspeed. The locution "God bless you" is used in Christian benedictions. Blessing is the projection of good into the life of another. It isn't just words.

Where does the phrase god bless you come from

We've all been there: in a room full of people, in a packed elevator or even walking down the street, when the sudden tingling urge for a sneeze comes on. That sneeze often triggers the "sneeze etiquette" -- a mysterious and silent message sent to the people next to you that unconsciously makes them say "bless you. Saying bless you is so ingrained in the American culture that if you sneeze and no one near you acknowledges, it creates a very noticeable, weird feeling. I guess you don't care that I sneezed," is how Elena, a woman from Orlando, Florida, described the awkward post-sneeze silence. For something so deep-seated into the culture, the reasons why we say "bless you" or "God bless you" when someone sneezes are something of a muddled mess with a lot of theories floating around. She's not alone in that theory, one so popular that the Cleveland Clinic and dozens of other medical experts have officially and publicly debunked it. For many years in the Middle Ages, people believed that when you sneezed, your spirit left your body for a second. So, the thought went, to say "bless you" could bring you back to life and also keep evil spirits from entering you in the instant or two that you were believed to have been gone. During the bubonic plague saying "God bless you" offered a desperate prayer for health and protection against the deadly disease. Pope Gregory is said to have encouraged people to embrace these blessings during that doom-filled era. The phrase appeared in America thanks to German immigrants.

Good manners dictate that every sneeze should be followed by some variation of "bless you. This is the nature of blessing. Other cultures thought that sneezing forced evil spirits out of the body, leaving others exposed to wandering spirits.

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No one knows why we say 'Bless you' after someone sneezes. We don't bless coughs or yawns or hiccups so there must be something significant about sneezing, it's just that we don't know what. There are several theories as to the origin of 'Bless you! Like many phrases for which there is no definitive origin, for example ' the whole nine yards ' and ' the real McCoy' , the guesses that people put forward as to their origin are many and various. For the most part the suggested explanations about 'Bless you! Top of the list, in the UK at least, is the idea that in Tudor England a sneeze was a sign that someone had the plague and a blessing was showing compassion for them on their way to their inevitable death. Ask any man in a pub in England sorry guys, it is always men and he will tell you "'Bless you! Well, it's possible, although the fact that sneezing isn't a symptom of bubonic plague must count against it. Another health related theory is that a person needs to be blessed after a sneeze because of the notion that the heart temporarily stops when sneezing and help may be needed to get it going again.

Where does the phrase god bless you come from

Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. The expression may have also originated from superstition. What are alternatives to saying Bless You?

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For other uses, see Bless You disambiguation. National Geographic reports that during the Roman Plague of , " Pope Gregory I ordered unceasing prayer for divine intercession. Speech Acts in the History of English. Trending Videos. Measure advertising performance. Look up God bless you in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. English phrase. Memories from Cherry Harvest. Skeptic Magazine. Further information: Blessing. And then there's the rumor that our hearts stop when we sneeze, and that saying, "bless you," is a way of welcoming the sneezer back from the dead. By Meghan Overdeep. Isaac Winter is a fact checker. So, the thought went, to say "bless you" could bring you back to life and also keep evil spirits from entering you in the instant or two that you were believed to have been gone. Thanks for your feedback!

Blessings were a part of the patriarchal heritage in Ancient Israel, going all the way back to Noah and Abraham, even before Israel came to exist as a nation. It is nearly an automatic response. Ironically, some cultures believe that sneezing is a good sign; a sign of prosperity and health.

Skeptic Magazine. Search for:. So while most of us aren't worried about demons, momentary death, or the bubonic plague, today it's considered a polite gesture. Retrieved 17 September So, the thought went, to say "bless you" could bring you back to life and also keep evil spirits from entering you in the instant or two that you were believed to have been gone. Would we ditch the "bless you" altogether? For Spanish-speakers, a "salud" is quite acceptable. During the bubonic plague saying "God bless you" offered a desperate prayer for health and protection against the deadly disease. You invoke God on their behalf to support the good that you will for them. For other uses, see Bless You disambiguation. Contents move to sidebar hide.