"God bless you!"

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Does it annoy anyone else when someone says "god bless you" after a sneeze? It's not even because I am atheist, the damn black plague ended. Why is this trite pointless thing to say so commonly used exactly?

My response is always "nothing left to bless." Always throws people off.

Seems like I was channeling my inner George Carlin on this post.

I usually do not respond to someone saying "bless you". Not out of annoyance or anything, I just don't get why a sneeze requires a verbal response from some people.

I say it out of habit. But I always wondered why we don't say anything for coughs, farts, belches, etc..

Wishing someone well after they sneeze probably originated thousands of years ago. The Romans would say "Jupiter preserve you" or "Salve," which meant "good health to you," and the Greeks would wish each other "long life." The phrase "God bless you" is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great, who uttered it in the sixth century during a bubonic plague epidemic (sneezing is an obvious symptom of one form of the plague).

The exchangeable term "gesundheit" comes from Germany, and it literally means "health." The idea is that a sneeze typically precedes illness. It entered the English language in the early part of the 20th century, brought to the United States by German-speaking immigrants.

Virtually every country around the globe has its own way of wishing sneezers well. People in Arabic countries say, "Alhamdulillah," which means, "praise be to God." Hindus say, "Live!" or "Live well!" Some countries have special sneezing responses for children. In Russia, after children are given the traditional response, "bud zdorov" ("be healthy"), they are also told "rosti bolshoi" ("grow big"). When a child sneezes in China, he or she will hear "bai sui," which means, "may you live 100 years."

­ For the most part, the various sneeze responses originated from ancient superstitions. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" would stop the devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person's body. There was also the misconception that the heart momentarily stops during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life.

We now know that sneezing is a reflex action and is most often the sign of something relatively benign, such as a cold or allergy. A sneeze also can be provoked by being outside in the sunlight or from smelling a strong odor. Still, we persist in the custom of saying "bless you" or "gesundheit," mainly out of habit and common courtesy.


http://people.howstuffworks.com/sneezing.htm

There's your answer.

Actually "Gesundheit" is far more commonly said in the U.S. than in Germany. Among "old-timers," you may still hear it (though now it's more common to say nothing or to beg pardon).
After someone sneezes multiple times, many used to reply (with some variations like "Health, Riches and many beautiful little children"):
After the first sneeze: "Gesundheit"
Second sneeze: "Schönheit"
Third sneeze: "...und viele kleine Kinderchen"

Usually if someone sneezes, I don't reply with anything. I figure it's embarrassing enough to generate such a sound, let alone having someone bring more attention to it. I also find begging pardon to be insulting to the sneezer. Why should the person apologize for or justify an involuntary action?

I say it all the time and I don't intend on stopping.

noxnocturne, that's my issue with it. It is based in superstition. I just find it annoying to be told god bless you and such, pointless response.

When you sneeze, that's your soul trying to escape. Saying 'God bless you' crams it back in....some wisdom from Milhouse van Houten.

I've been stumped on why nobody says anything for coughing, but for the other ones people usually say "PIG!"

The actual reason people bless sneezes is that the heart stops beating for 1/100 second when a sneeze occurs

Great to hear from a fellow Simpsons fan!

I like saying it because it is based on superstition. I would throw salt over my left shoulder too if the opportunity ever presented itself. It's historical and humorous all in one .

Ha, nice.

God bless you!

They are just words. I say sorry all the time even though I don't need to. Just words.

Yep, many more Simpsons quotes where that came from!

Why is it "God bless you!" rather than "God blesses you!"?