Response to sneezing
 | This article needs additional citations for verification. (November 2009) |
In English-speaking countries, the common verbal response to another person's sneeze is "(God) bless you" or, less commonly in the United States "Gesundheit" (good health). There are several proposed origins for the use "Bless you" in the context of sneezing.
In non-English-speaking cultures, words referencing good health or a long life are often used instead of "bless you", though some also use references to God.
List of responses in other languages
| Language | Usual Responses and Notes | Meaning in English | Sneezer Reply and Pronunciation | Meaning in English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Shëndet (shuhn-det) | "Health!" | Faleminderit or Shëndet paç | "Thank you!" and "May you have health," respectively |
| American Sign Language | Bless you (for hearing users; deaf users typically will not respond) | "Bless you." | N/A | N/A |
| Amharic | ይማርሽ (yimarish) for female or ይማርህ (yimarih) for male | "May God forgive you!" | ያኑሪሽ (yanurish) for female or ያኑርህ (yanurih) for male | "May you live for long." |
| Afrikaans | Gesondheid | "Health!" | Unknown | Unknown |
| Arabic | صحة (Sahha) or يرحمكم الله (yarhamkom Allah) if the sneezer says الحمدلله (Alhamdo lel lah/Alhamdulillah), as an alternative interaction | "Health!" or "God have mercy on you" if the sneezer says "All praise is for God." | شكراً (Shukran) or يهديكم الله و يصلح بالكم (Yahdeekom Allah wa yousleh balakom) after the alternative interaction | "Thank you!" or "God guide you and make you right," respectively. |
| Armenian | առողջություն (aroghjootyoon) | "Health!" | Unknown | Unknown |
| Assamese | মঙ্গল হওক (môngôl hôwk) | "May good happen." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Azeri | Sağlam ol, or sometimes Afiat (see Persian) | "Be healthy." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Basque | Doministiku', from Latin 'dominus tecum' | "Lord be with you." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Belarusian | будзь здаровы for both genders, orбудзь здароў (Budz zdarovy / budz zdarou) for male and будзь здаровая (Budz zdarovaja) for female | "Cheers!" or "Be healthy!" for each gender | дзякуй (dziakuj) | "Thank you." |
| Bosnian | Nazdravlje | "To your good health." | Hvala | "Thank you." |
| Bulgarian | Наздраве (Nazdrave) | "To your health." or "Cheers." | Благодаря (Blagodarya) | "Thank you." |
| Catalan | Jesús or Salut | "Jesus." or "Health!" | Gràcies | "Thank you." |
| Cantonese | 大吉利事. Sneezing in Southern Chinese culture means that someone is speaking ill behind your back. | "A great fortunate occurrence." | 唔好意思 | "Sorry." |
| Chechen | Dukha vehil for male or Dukha yehil for female | "Live for a long time." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Chinese | 一百岁 (yì bǎi suì) or 长命百岁 (chánɡ mìnɡ bǎi suì); frequently, listeners do not comment on the sneeze. | "May you live for a hundred years." or "May you live to one hundred years." | 不好意思 (bù hǎo yì si) | "Excuse me." |
| Croatian | Na zdravlje | "To your health." | Hvala | "Thank you." |
| Czech | Na zdraví or Pozdrav Pánbůh or Je to pravda | "To your health." or "Bless God" or "It is true." | Ať slouží | "May it last." |
| Danish | Prosit | "To your health." | Tak | "Thank you." |
| Dutch | Gezondheid, or if the person has sneezed three times, (Drie keer) morgen mooi weer | "Health!", or if the person has sneezed three times, "(Three times) the weather will be nice tomorrow." | Dank u (wel) formally, or Dank je (wel) | "Thank you." |
| English | God bless you or Gesundheit. The latter phrase passed into local English usage in areas with substantial German-speaking populations.[1] The expression is first widely attested in American English as of 1910, about the time when large numbers of Yiddish-speaking Ashkenazi Jews immigrated to the United States. | "Bless you" or "Health!" | Thank you. | "Thank you." |
| Esperanto | Sanon | "Health!" | Unknown | Unknown |
| Estonian | Terviseks | "For your health." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Faroese | Jesuspápi vælsigni teg! | "May Jesus bless you." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Finnish | Terveydeksi | "For health!" | Unknown | Unknown |
| French | à tes / vos souhaits after the first sneeze, à tes / vos amours after the second sneeze, and et que les tiens / vôtres durent toujours after the third. More archaically, one can say Dieu te/vous bénisse or Santé. | "To your wishes." after the first sneeze, "To your loves." after the second, and "And may yours last forever" after the third. More archaically, the translations are "God bless you" and "Health," in that order. | Unknown | Unknown |
| Georgian | იცოცხლე (itsotkhle) | "Live long." | გმადლობთ (gmadlobt) | "Thank you." |
| German | Gesundheit or other wishes such as Zufriedenheit, Reichtum, Schönheit (humorously); Helf Gott! or Wahr ist's! (colloquially in Austria) | "Health!" or other wishes such as "Contentment!", "Wealth!", "Beauty!" (humorously); "May God help you!" or "It is true" (colloquially in Austria) | Danke | "Thank you." |
| Greek | στην υγεία σου (steen eyia sue) or γείτσες | "To your health!" or "Healths!" | Unknown | Unknown |
| Gujarati | Ghanu Jivo | "May God bless you with a long life." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Hawaiian | Kihe, a mauli ola, or simply Ola | "Sneeze, and you shall live", or simply "live" | Unknown | Unknown |
| Hebrew | לבריאות (livri'oot or labri'oot) | "To your health!" | תודה (todah) | "Thank you!" |
| Hindi | हरी ॐ (Hari Om) or सत्यम (sat'yam), which is a shortened version of सत्यम शिवम् सुन्दरम (sat'yam shivam sundaram) | The first is the shortest mantra referring to the universality of Om; the second is "Truth," a shortened version of "Truth is God is beautiful." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Hungarian | Egészségedre! | "To your health!" | Köszönöm | "Thank you." |
| Igbo | Ndo | "Sorry." | Daalu | "Thank you." |
| Icelandic | Guð hjálpi þér! to first sneeze, styrki þig to second sneeze, og styðji to third sneeze. [2] This can be shortened to Hjálpi þér. | "God help you!" to first sneeze, "strengthen you" to second sneeze, "and support." to third sneeze. This can be shortened to "Bless you." | "Takk fyrir" | "Thank you" |
| Indonesian | Alhamdulillah | "God bless." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Irish | Dia linn or Dia leat or Deiseal which may be a form of Dia seal | The first two both mean "God be with us." The last means "May it go right," but might be a form of "God with us for a while." | gabh mo leithscéal | "Excuse me." |
| Italian | Salute! | "To your health!" | Grazie. | "Thank you." |
| Japanese | Nothing. A Japanese superstition says that if one sneezes, they are being talked about by someone, somewhere. | N/A | すみません (sumimasen) or 失礼しました (shitsurei shimashita) | "Sorry." or "Excuse me." |
| Kazakh | Сау Болыңыз (Saw Bolıñız) | "Be healthy." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Khmer | ស្បើយ (S'baoi) | "Fast recovery." | សាធុ (Satu) | "Amen" |
| Kirundi | Kira | "Be healthy." | Twese | "Us all." |
| Korean | Nothing is said. | N/A | 미안합니다 (mianhamnida) | "Sorry." |
| Kurdish | Kher be inshalla. Many times when one sneezes, they say that the thing they are about to do will not happen. So, a listener says Kher be. | "It will be a good thing, God willing," or the shorter version, "A good sign hopefully." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Kyrgyz | Акчуч! [aqˈt͡ʃut͡ʃ]. | This may be based on an onomatopœia of the sound of a sneeze, like the English "Atchoo." | Ракмат!, if the person who spoke after the sneeze is liked. | "Thank you." |
| Ladino | Vivas, or Crescas after a second sneeze. | "May you live," or "May you grow" after a second sneeze. | Unknown | Unknown |
| Latgalian | Veseleibā | "To your health." | Paldis | "Thank you." |
| Latvian | Uz veselību | "To your health." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Lithuanian | Į sveikatą | "To your health." | Says Atsiprašau immediately; responds to a responder with Ačiū. | Says "Excuse me" immediately; responds to a responder with "Thank you." |
| Lojban | No set phrase, but one commonly says kanro .a'o (kanro aho) or .a'o do kanro. | "[hopefully] Health!" or "[said with hope] You are healthy," respectively. | Unknown | Unknown |
| Luganda | Bbuka | "Recover." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Lufumbira | Urakire | "May you be healthy." | Twese | "Us all." |
| Macedonian | Hа здравје (na zdravje) | "To your health." | Здравје да имаш (zdravje da imash) or Благодарам(blagodaram) or Фала(fala) | "Have health yourself." or "Thank you." or "Thanks." |
| Malayalam | No widely used phrase, but references to God such as ഹരി are used, especially when a child sneezes. | Unknown | Unknown | Unknown |
| Maltese | Evviva | "May he/she live." An alternate translation is "Long live _____." | Grazzi | "Thank you." |
| Mongolian | Бурхан өршөө (Burkhan örshöö) | "May god forgive you." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Nepali | ʼचिरन्जिभी (chiranjivī) | "May you live long." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Norwegian | Prosit | "To your health." | Takk | "Thank you." |
| Persian | عافیت باشه (Afiat Bahsheh) for a dramatic sneeze. More religious people use the Arabic versions; in this case the responder will say يرحمكم الله (yarhamkom Allah). | "May Cleanliness/Purity be bestowed upon you or may it be for your health." for a dramatic sneeze. More religious people will say "God have mercy on you." | The sneezer will often say سلامت باشید (Salaamat Bashid). More religious people will say الحمد لله (Alhamdo lel lah/Alhamdulillah) before an onlooker responds. | The sneezer will say "Be healthy." More religious sneezers will say "All praise is for God." |
| Polish | Na zdrowie! or Sto lat! | "To your health!" or "Live a hundred years!" | Dziękuję. | Thank you. |
| Portuguese | Santinho, Saúde, [que] Deus te salve, Viva, or [que] Deus te abafe. In Brazilian Portuguese and Galician one says Saúde [3] | These mean, in order: "Little Saint," "To your health," "May God save you," "Long life to you," and "May God put a blanket over you." | obrigado/a or amen | "Thank you" or "Amen." |
| Punjabi | ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ (Waheguru) or ਤੇਰਾ ਭਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ! | "Glorious Lord" or "May you be blessed," respectively. | Unknown | Unknown |
| Romanian | Sănătate or Noroc | "To your health" or "To your luck," respectively. | Unknown | Unknown |
| Russian | будь здоров (bood' zdorov) for male or будь здорова (bood' zdorova) for female. | "Be healthy." | спасибо (spasiba) | "Thank you." |
| Serbian | Наздравље | "To your health." | Хвала or less frequently Истина. | "Thank you," or less frequently "It is true." |
| Sinhala | Ayubowan | "Have a long life." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Slovak | Na zdravie | "To your health." | Ďakujem | "Thank you." |
| Slovenian | Na zdravje or the old-fashioned Bog pomagaj | "To your health" or "God help to you." | Hvala | "Thank you." |
| Spanish | Salud or Jesús | "To your health" or "Jesus." | Gracias | "Thank you" |
| Swedish | Prosit | "To your health." | Tack | "Thank you." |
| Tamil | Dhrigayisu or Poornaisu or Aisu nooru | "Live long." or "Live as long as expected." or "Live to 100 years." | "Nandri" | "Thank You" |
| Telugu | Chiranjeevi bhava or దీర్ఘాయుష్మాన్ భవ | "May you be blessed with a life without death." or "May you live long." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Turkish | Çok yaşa | "Live long." | Sen de gör or Hep beraber or 'Siz de görün | "And I hope that you live to see it [my long life]," or "All together," or "And may you witness it [my long life]," respectively. |
| Ukranian | будь здоровий (BООD' zdoh-RO-vyy) to an informal male sneezer, будь здорова (BООD' zdoh-RO-va) to an informal female sneezer, or будьте здорові (BООD'-te zdoh-RO-vee) to a formal sneezer. | "Be healthy." | дякую (DIA-koo-you) | "Thank you." |
| Urdu | yar-hum-o-kullah(First the person who sneezed says Al-ham-du-lillah i.e. praise be to God)" | "May God have mercy on you. | "Yah-de-kum-ullah." | "May God guide you to the right path" |
| Uzbek | Sog' bo'ling or Salomat bo'ling | "Be healthy." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Vietnamese | Sống lâu or Lạy Mụ /laj˧ˀ˩ mu˧ˀ˩/ or, for a child sneezer, Cơm muối | "Live long" or "Mother Nature blesses you" or, for a child sneezer, "Rice and salt." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Welsh | Bendith or Bendith [Duw] arnat ti (familiar) or Bendith [Duw] arnoch chi (respectful) | "God's blessing on you." | Unknown | Unknown |
| Yiddish | זײַ געזונט (zay gezunt), or צו געזונט (tzu gezunt) after a second sneeze. Another response among Yiddish and Hebrew speaking Jews is אסותא (asuse), from Aramaic. | "Be healthy," "too healthy," and "health," respectively. | A sneezer responds to his or her own sneeze with חיים(chaim) in another Jewish custom. | "Life." |
See also
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Sneeze.
Notes
- ^ "Word of the Day". Random House. 1997-09-23.
- ^ Visindavefur (in Icelandic), IS.
- ^ "Por que dizemos 'saúde' quando alguém espirra?" (in Portuguese).
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|published=ignored (help)
References
- Ancient Sneezing: A Gift from the Gods - Elaine Fantham, Professor of Classics at Princeton on NPR Radio.
- Why do my eyes close every time I sneeze? M.G., Sherborn The Boston Globe
Further reading
- Cecil Adams (1987). "If you hold your eyelids open while sneezing, will your eyes pop out?". The Straight Dope.
- Barbara Mikkelson (2001). "Bless You!" Urban Legends Reference Pages.
- Tom Wilson, M.D. (1997) "Why do we sneeze when we look at the sun?" MadSci Network.
External links
Look up sneeze in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
- The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs - T. Sharper Knowlson (1910), a book that listed many superstitions and customs that are still common today.
- Cold and flu advice (NHS Direct)