Wollang@sh.itjust.works to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · 1 year agoHow did we come to say something courteous to someone after they’ve sneezedmessage-squaremessage-square24fedilinkarrow-up188arrow-down15file-text
arrow-up183arrow-down1message-squareHow did we come to say something courteous to someone after they’ve sneezedWollang@sh.itjust.works to No Stupid Questions@lemmy.world · 1 year agomessage-square24fedilinkfile-text
minus-squareradix@lemm.eelinkfedilinkarrow-up55·edit-21 year agoOff the top of my head, I think something in traditional European beliefs said that the soul was at risk of flying out of the nose when one sneezed. Hence people would say “bless you” in case you died and were at risk of otherwise falling into hell. (Edit:) This vaguely supports my memory: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_bless_you#Origins_and_legends
Off the top of my head, I think something in traditional European beliefs said that the soul was at risk of flying out of the nose when one sneezed. Hence people would say “bless you” in case you died and were at risk of otherwise falling into hell.
(Edit:) This vaguely supports my memory: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/God_bless_you#Origins_and_legends