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“Gesundheit!” and “Alla Salut!” mean “Cheers!” and “God Bless You!”

How Do You Sneeze in Your Country?

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“Gesundheit!” and “Alla Salut!” mean “Cheers!” and “God Bless You!”

Wednesday, June 7th, 2006

The other day I wrote an entry about the customs around sneezing in different countries. I mentioned the German word Gesundheit, which is said to someone after they’ve sneezed.

I looked up Gesundheit, and found that it’s also said as a “cheers” before drinking with someone. It’s literally “to your health”.

The Gesundheit that’s said after sneezing comes from a longer phrase, Gesundheit ist besser als Krankheit, which means, “Health is better than sickness”. It’s probably rooted in the fear that someone might be sick if they’re sneezing.

All of this talk about sneezing helped me remember what my Italian-speaking grandfather used to say. He’d say, alla salut (it sounded like “ah salut”), meaning “to health”. He’d say Alla salut both after someone sneezed and as a “cheers” before drinking.

So, to all of you … Gesundheit and alla salut!

Lisa

P.S. Feel free to comment below about what’s said in your country as a cheers, and after someone sneezes.

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Posted in Cheers!, Countries & Cultures, Customs, German, Germany, Gesundheit, Italian, Italy, Languages, Sneezing, Words & Phrases, Yiddish | 17 Comments »

How Do You Sneeze in Your Country?

Friday, June 2nd, 2006

Today Devon over at Head, Shoulders, Knees and all that wrote a blog post about sneezing in Japan. He said in Japan they say hak-shun when they sneeze. In English we say a-choo.

After Japanese people sneeze, no one says anything special.

In English we say God bless you or Gesundheit. Gesundheit is a German word that literally means health. In German, and also in Yiddish, it’s also said after someone sneezes.

In Italian, they say Felicita (Happiness) after someone sneezes. In French they say Que Dieu vous bénisse (May god bless you) or A tes/vos souhaits (lit. To your wishes).

I’ve been told, and would love a verification, that in China, when someone sneezes, the others in the room bow.

Even the Romans said, Absit omen! (which I believe meant something like, God forbid this from being an omen), after someone sneezed.

It’s believed that the custom of saying “God bless you” comes from the time of a plague, when sneezing was a symptom that you were ill with the sickness.

In some cultures sneezing has been seen as a sign that evil is around. In others, it’s been believed that part of the soul can be expelled by a sneeze.

Of course, with all these beliefs about what happens when you sneeze, some proverbs have arisen about the subject. In Japan, according to Devon, there’s one that has to do with how many times you sneeze…

It says if you sneeze once, it means someone is praising you;
If you sneeze twice, it means someone is criticizing you/saying bad things about you;
If you sneeze three times, it means you are being scolded;
And if you sneeze four times or more, well, it means you have a cold.

In English there’s a saying about the number of times you sneeze and what it means too. It goes…

Once, a wish,
Twice a kiss,
Three times a letter,
Four times something better.

Here’s an English proverb about the day you sneeze on, and what that means…

If you sneeze on Monday, you sneeze for danger;
Sneeze on Tuesday, you kiss a stranger;
Sneeze on Wednesday, you sneeze for a letter;
Sneeze on a Thursday, for something better;
Sneeze on a Friday, you sneeze for sorrow;
Sneeze on a Saturday, your sweetheart tomorrow;
Sneeze on a Sunday, your safety seek,
The devil will have you the whole of the week.

Here’s a last proverb that tells about what it means if you sneeze at different times of day…

Sneeze before you eat,
See your sweetheart before you sleep.
Sneeze between twelve and one,
Sure sign somebody’ll come.
Sneeze between one and two,
Come to see you.
Sneeze between two and three,
Come to see me.
Sneeze between three and four,
Somebody’s at the door.

Please comment below let us know about sneezing in your culture… it’d be interesting to know what sound a person makes when they sneeze, what you say afterwards and anything else you’d like to share about sneezing.

May you all sneeze the right number of times, at the right time, and on the right day! Or perhaps even better, may you not sneeze at all!

Lisa

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Posted in Countries & Cultures, Customs, English, English Nursery Rhymes, English Proverbs, France, French, German, Gesundheit, Great Britain, Italian, Italy, Japan, Japanese, Languages, Latin, Nursery Rhymes, Proverbs, Proverbs about Sneezing, Sneezing, USA, Words & Phrases, Yiddish | 39 Comments »

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