Response to sneezing
In English-speaking countries, the common verbal response to another person's sneeze is "[God] bless you", or, less commonly in the United States and Canada, "Gesundheit", the German word for health (and the response to sneezing in German-speaking countries). There are several proposed bless-you origins for use in the context of sneezing.
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1912 illustration
In non-English-speaking cultures, words connoting good health or a long life are often used instead of "bless you," though some also use references to God.
In certain languages such as Vietnamese, Japanese or Korean, nothing is generally said after a sneeze except for when expressing concern when the person is sick from a cold or otherwise. In northern China people say "一百岁, or "a hundred years old", to wish health on the person who sneezed once. After a second sneeze one would say “二百岁”, which is simply "two hundred".
List of responses in other languages
| Language | Usual responses and notes | Response meaning in English | Sneezer reply and pronunciation | Reply meaning in English |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Shëndet (shuhn-det) | "Health!" | Faleminderit | "Thank you" |
| Shëndet paç | "May you have health" | |||
| Amharic | ይማርሽ (yimarish) for female ይማርህ (yimarih) for male |
"May God forgive you!" | ያኑሪሽ (yanurish) for female ያኑርህ (yanurih) for male |
"May you live for long." |
| Afrikaans | Gesondheid | "Health!" | Dankie | "Thank you" |
| Arabic | صحة (ṣaḥḥa).
فرج (faraj) or الله فرجك (allāh farajak (m.), allāh farajik (f.)) نشوة (nashwa). يرحمكم الله (yarḥamukum ullāh) if the sneezer says الحمدلله (al‐ḥamdulila̅h), as an alternative/religious interaction. |
"Well-being!", "Health!"
"Relief!", or "God give you relief!" "Elation!", or "Thrill!" "God have mercy on you" if the sneezer says "All praise is for God." |
علينا و عليك (ʿalayna̅ wa‐ʿalayk), شكراً (shukran), or يهديكم الله و يصلح بالكم (yahdīkum alla̅h wa‐yuṣlaḥ ba̅lakum) after the alternative interaction | "For you and me", "Thank you!" or "God guide you and set your affairs aright." |
| Armenian | առողջություն (aroghjutyun) | "Health" | շնորհակալություն (shnorhakalutyun) | "Thank you" |
| Assamese | মঙ্গল হওক (môngôl hôwk) | "May good happen." | Unknown | |
| Assyrian Neo-Aramaic | shemed alaha
brakhmeh |
"In God's name"
"Bless you" |
baseema raba | "Thank you (very much)" |
| Azeri | Sağlam ol | "Be healthy." | Sən də Sağ ol | "You Too" |
| Bangla | [Bangladesh] Alhamdulillah (আল্লাহ তোমার উপর রহম দান করুন) | "May God have mercy on you" | "Silence" | |
| [India] Jibah Jibah (জীবঃ জীবঃ) | "May you live long" | |||
| Basque | Doministiku, from Latin dominus tecum | "The Lord be with you." | Unknown | |
| Bavarian | Hejf da God.
Gsundheid! |
"May God help you."
"Health!" |
Dånk da sche. | "Thank you." |
| Belarusian | будзь здаровы (Budz zdarovy) for both genders | "Be healthy" | дзякуй (dziakuj) | "Thank you" |
| будзь здароў (budz zdarou) for male | ||||
| будзь здаровая (Budz zdarovaja) for female | ||||
| Bosnian | Nazdravlje | "To your good health." | Hvala | "Thank you" |
| Breton | Doue d'ho pennigo. | "God will bless 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 (daai6 gat1 lei6 si6) or 好嘅 (hou2 ge3). Sneezing in Southern Chinese culture means that someone is speaking ill behind your back. | "A great fortunate occurrence." / "A good one." | 唔好意思 (m4 hou2 ji3 si1) | "Excuse me." |
| Chechen | Dukha vekhil for male or Dukha yekhil for female | "Live for a long time." | Dela reze hiyla | "Thank you", literally means "I wish God will bless you". |
| Mandarin | Mandarin speakers do not typically comment on another person's sneeze. When someone does give a response, he or she might say 百岁 (bǎisuì).
More rarely there is the expression 多保重 (duōbǎozhòng)多喝点水 (duō he dian shui) |
"(live to) 100 years old"
"Take care", "Drink more water" . |
不好意思 (bùhǎoyìsi) | "Excuse me." |
| Croatian | Nazdravlje or Istina! | "To your health." or "Truth!" | 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 or Dejž to Pánbůh (in reply to Pozdrav Pánbůh) | "May it last." or "May God let it happen (bless you)" |
| Danish | Prosit | From Latin, prōsit. (“may it be good”) (to your health)[notes 1] | Tak | "Thank you" |
| Dutch | Gezondheid, or if the person has sneezed three times, (Drie keer) morgen mooi weer
Less commonly: proost |
"Health!", the equivalent of respectively "Gesundheit" as said in English, or if the person has sneezed three times, "(Three times) the weather will be nice tomorrow."
From Latin, prōsit. (“may it be good”) (to your health)[notes 1] |
Dank u (wel) formally, or Dank je (wel) | "Thank you" |
| English | God bless you, Bless you, or Gesundheit | Thank you; And you | ||
| Esperanto | Sanon | "Health!" | Dankon | "Thank you" |
| Estonian | Terviseks | "For health!" | Aitäh | "Thank you" |
| Faroese | Jesuspápi vælsigni teg! This can be shortened to Vælsigni teg! | "May Jesus bless you." or "Bless you." | Takk (fyri)! | "Thanks (for [it])!" |
| Finnish | Terveydeksi | "For health!" | Kiitos | "Thank you" |
| French | à tes / vos souhaits or Santé
Old-fashioned: à tes / vos amours after the second sneeze, and qu'elles durent toujours or à tes / vos rêves after the third. More archaically, one can say Que Dieu te/vous bénisse. |
"To your wishes" or "health". Old-fashioned: after the second sneeze, "to your loves," and after the third, "may they last forever." More archaically, the translation is "God bless you". | Merci or Merci, que les tiennes durent toujours (old-fashioned) after the second sneeze | "Thank you" or "Thanks, may yours last forever" after the second sneeze |
| Gaelic (Scottish) | Dia leat (informal) or Dia leibh (formal) | "God with you" | Mòran taing (or any other variation of thanks) | "Many thanks" |
| Georgian | ჯანმრთელობა (janmrteloba) or იცოცხლე (itsotskhle) | "Health." or "Live long." | მადლობა (madloba) or გმადლობთ (gmadlobt) | "Thank you" |
| German | Gesundheit![notes 2] | "Health!" (in the meaning of I wish you good health or I wish that you don't get sick) | Danke (schön) | "Thank you (very much)." |
| Helf Gott!/Helfgott!/Helf dir Gott! (Southern Germany/Austria/Transylvanian-Saxon; archaic/mostly used by more or less religious elderly)[1][2]
Gott helfe[3] |
"May God help you!" | Vergelt's Gott | "May God reward it [i.e. your good wish]." | |
| Großwachsen! (Transylvanian-Saxon; from Romanian "Să creşti mare!"; used solely for children, usually after the usual "Gesundheit" for the first and/or second response)[4] | "You shall grow tall!" | Danke (schön) | "Thank you (very much)." | |
| Zum Wohl! (Southern Germany/Austria)[5] | "To your well-being!" | |||
| Gīkūyū | "Wimūrūarū?" (A conversation starter - mostly, one hints abouts the other's wellbeing in a sarcastic way). | "Are you sick?" | "Aasha!" | "Not really!" |
| Greek | γείτσες (gítses) or με την υγεία σου (me tin igía su) | "Healths!" or "With your health!" | Ευχαριστώ (Efharistó) | "Thank You" |
| Gujarati | Ghanu Jivo | "May God bless you with a long life." | Aabhar | "Thank you" |
| Hawaiian | Kihe, a mauli ola, or simply Ola | "Sneeze, and you shall live", or simply "live" | Mahalo | "Thank you" |
| Hebrew | לבריאות (livri'oot or labri'oot) | "To health!" | תודה (todah) | "Thank you!" |
| Hungarian | Egészségedre! / Egészségére! (If a person sneezes while another is speaking, Hungarians also say sometimes "Igaz is" confirming that the person who was just speaking was telling the truth) | "To your health!"
("True") |
Köszönöm | "Thank you" |
| Igbo | Ndo | "Sorry." | Daalu | "Thank you" |
| Icelandic | Guð hjálpi þér! or Guð blessi þig
There is also an old custom to respond three times to three sneezes like so: Guð hjálpi þér ("God help you"), styrki þig ("strengthen you"), og styðji ("and support"). Though it is not commonly used. [6] |
"God help you!" or "God bless you" | Takk fyrir, Takk, Ég þakka or Afsakið | "Thank you", "Thanks", "I thank" or "excuse me" |
| Indonesian | Tuhan berkati | "God bless." | Terima Kasih | "Thank you" |
| Irish | Dia linn or Dia leat or Deiseal, which may be a form of Dia seal | The first response means “God be with us.” The second response means "God be with you." 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! | "Health!" | Grazie | "Thank you" |
| (ironic) Che se ne va | "That is going away" | |||
| Japanese | 大丈夫? (Daijoubu?)
Note: It is very rare for anyone to acknowledge a sneeze in Japan, and it is customary not to say anything at all. After multiple sneezes, they use these words. |
"Are you all right?" | すみません (sumimasen) or 失礼しました (shitsurei shimashita) | "Sorry." or "Excuse me." |
| Kannada | ಶತಾಯುಸ್ಸು if the sneezer is young. Otherwise the sneezer takes the name of the lord | "Long life" Literally "A hundred years" | Note: It is very rare for anyone to acknowledge an adult sneezing, and it is customary not to say anything at all. | |
| Kazakh[7] | Сау болыңыз (Saw Bolıñız), Сау бол (Saw Bol) | "Be healthy." First is formal, second is informal. Widespread in cities. A calque of Russian "Будьте здоровы", "Будь здоров". | Рақмет! | "Thank you!". From Persian رحمت (rahmat, “mercy”), which is itself from Arabic رَحْمَة (raḥma, “compassion, mercy”). |
| Жарақымалда(North)
Жәрекімалда(West) |
"May God have mercy on you." From Arabic
يرحمكم الله (yarḥamukum ullāh). Pronunciation differs by region. Most common in western and northern regions. | |||
| Ақ күш бер тәңір.
Short forms: Бер тәңір(East), Ақ күш(North) |
"May Tengri give you pure strength." Of tengrist origin. Most common in central, northern, and eastern regions. | |||
| Аққас | Possibbly, shortened form of "Ақ күш бер тәңір." Most common in southern regions. | |||
| Бер тәңірім бес жүз жылқы | "May Tengri give me five hundred horses". Of tengrist origin. More common among kazakhs in Mongolia. | Жартысы менікі, жартысы сенікі | "Half mine, half yours" | |
| Khmer | ស្បើយ (S'baoi) | "Fast recovery." | សាធុ (Satu) | "Amen" |
| Kirundi | Kira | "Be healthy." | Twese | "Us all." |
| Kinyarwanda | Urakire | "May you be healthy." | Twese | "Us all." |
| Korean | The practice of responding to someone's sneeze is rare. | |||
| 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." | |||
| Têr bijî. ”May you live long.” | ||||
| Kusaal | Win yɛl sida! | "God speaks truth" (Sneezing means that someone elsewhere is praising you.) | Ami! | "Amen!" |
| Kyrgyz | Ак чүч! [aqˈt͡ʃut͡ʃ]. | This may be based on an onomatopœia of the sound of a sneeze, like the English "Atchoo." | Рахмат, if the person who spoke after the sneeze is liked. | "Thank you." |
| Ladino | בֿיבֿאס (vivas), קריזקאס (crezcas) after a second sneeze, and אינפֿלוריזקאס (enflorezcas) after a third sneeze. | "May you live," "May you grow" after a second sneeze, and "May you flourish" after a third sneeze. | מירסי (merci) | "Thank you." |
| Latgalian | Veseleibā | "To your health." | Paldis | "Thank you." |
| Latin | Salve | "Be healthy" (also used for salutation). | ||
| Latvian | Uz veselību | "To your health." | Paldies | "Thank you." |
| Lithuanian | Į sveikatą (pronounced 'EE sweh kata') [8] | "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 | |
| Luganda | Bbuka | "Recover." | Unknown | |
| Luxembourgish | Gesondheet | "Health!" | Merci | "Thank you" |
| Macedonian | На здравје (na zdravye) | "To your health." | Здравје да имаш (zdravye da imash) or Благодарам (blagodaram) or Фала (fala) | "Have health yourself." or "Thank you." or "Thanks." |
| Malagasy | Velona! | "Be healthy." | ||
| Malayalam | Depending on the religion, one would say Hari Krishna (ഹരി കൃഷ്ണാ ) or Eesho rakshikka (ഈശോ രക്ഷിക്ക) | Let Lord Krishna bless you or Jesus save you | നന്ദി | Thanks |
| Maltese | Evviva | "May he/she live." An alternate translation is "Long live _____." | Grazzi | "Thank you" |
| Māori people | manaakitia koe | "Bless you" | Mihi Koe | "Thank you" |
| Marathi | सत्य आहे | "It's the Truth" | Unknown | |
| Mongolian | Бурхан өршөө (Burkhan örshöö) | "May God forgive you." | Unknown | |
| Navajo | T'áá bí ání
or Háíshį́į́ naa ntsékees / naa yáłti' |
"That/the one said it" (lit. "S/he in particular said it") or "Someone is thinking of you / talking about you" | 'Aoo' t'áá bí ání (in response to "Someone is thinking / talking about you") | "Yes, that/the one said it" |
| Nepali | चिरञ्जीवी भव (Chiranjeevi Bhawa) | "May you live long." | धन्यवाद (Dhan-ya-bad) | "Thank you" |
| Norwegian | Prosit | From Latin, prōsit. “Måtte det gagne deg” (“may it be good”) (to your health)[notes 3] | Takk | "Thank you" |
| Afaan Oromo | Gudadhu Huddu Sarre Dhungadhu | "Progress." | Galatoomi | "Thank you" |
| Pashto | صبر (Sah-bur). | "Patience" | مننه (Mah-nah-nah). | "Thank you" |
| Persian | عافیت باشه (Afiat Basheh). | "May Cleanliness/Purity be bestowed upon you," or "may it be for your health." | The sneezer will often say سلامت باشید (Salaamat Bashid). | The sneezer will say "Be healthy." |
| Polish | Na zdrowie! or Sto lat! or Zdrówko! (a diminutive form of "zdrowie" – health). Sometimes Prawda!. | "To your health!" or "Live a hundred years!" or "[To your] health!". Sometimes "Truth!", indicating the sneeze means something the sneezer had said before is true. | Dziękuję / Dzięki. | Thank you / Thanks. |
| Portuguese / Galician | Saúde or Deus te crie or Deus te guarde or Santinho! | These mean, in order: "Health" or "May God raise you" or "May God keep you covered (as in warm and covered)" or "Little Saint!" | obrigado/a or Amém | "Thank you" or "Amen" |
| Punjabi | ਵਾਹਿਗੁਰੂ (Waheguru) or ਤੇਰਾ ਭਲਾ ਹੋਵੇ! | "Glorious Lord" or "May you be blessed," respectively. | Thanvaad | "Thank you" |
| Romanian | 1) Sănătate/Să fii sănătos/Să fii sănătoasă or Noroc
2) Să crești mare! (for children; usually "Noroc" comes first, then "Sănătate" and, as a third option, "Să crești mare!")[9] |
1) "Health/Be healthy (addressed to him/her)" or "To your luck," respectively.
2) "May you grow up!" |
Mulțumesc | "Thank you" |
| Russian | Будь здоров/а! (Bud' zdorov/a), or more formally Будьте здоровы (Bud'te zdorovy) | "[May you] Be healthy!" | Спасибо, буду (spasibo, budu) or Спасибо (spasibo) | "Thank you, I will" or "Thank you" |
| Serbian | 1) Наздравље (Nazdravie)
2) Pis Maco mostly used with children |
1) "To your health."
2) "go away kitten" as sound of sneezing often sounds like cat's cough |
Хвала or less frequently Истина or Здравље да имаш. | "Thank you," or less frequently "It is true" or "Health you have". |
| Sinhala | ආයුබෝවන් (Ayubowan) | "Have a long life." | Thank you | "Thank you" |
| Slovak | Na zdravie | "To your health." | Ďakujem | "Thank you" |
| Slovenian | Na zdravje, Res je or the old-fashioned Bog pomagaj | "To your health," "it is true" or "God help to you." Folk belief has it that a sneeze, which is involuntary, proves the truth of whatever was said just prior to it. | Hvala | "Thank you" |
| Spanish | In Latin America, Salud, or Dios te bendiga. In Spain, it can also be Jesús after the first, María after the second and y José after the third, while in Latin America, particularly in Venezuela, Colombia, it's replaced by salud after the first, dinero after the second and amor after the third. In Argentina it's only Salud every time. | "To your health", "Jesus", or "God bless you", or "Jesus" after the first, "Mary" after the second and "and Joseph" after the third in Spain, while in Latin America, they say health, money and love. | Gracias | "Thank you" |
| Kiswahili | Pole | "I am sorry" | Nishapoa / Asante | "Already feeling better" / "Thank you" |
| Swedish | Prosit[10][notes 3] | From Latin, prōsit. “Må det vara till gagn” | Tack | "Thank you" |
| Tamil | ஆயுசு நூறு (aa-yu-su noo-ru)/ஆயுள் நூறு (aa-yul noo-ru) or நீடு வாழ்க (nee-du vaal-ka)
Also, Dheergayusu, Poornayusu, Sadayusu |
"100 year-long life" or "Live long"
Different variations of long life after consecutive sneezes., "Live long" |
நன்றி (nan-dri) | "Thank you" |
| Telugu | Chiranjeevi bhava/Chiranjeeva or Nurella ayusshu or దీర్ఘాయుష్మాన్ భవ | "May you be blessed with a life without death," or "may you live long." Or “may you have 100 years of whole life” | "ధన్యవాద" or smile | "Thank you" |
| Turkish | Çok yaşa followed by İyi yaşa if a second sneeze occurs | "Live long, live good." | 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. |
| Ukrainian | 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.[11] На здоров'я! (na zdoh-RO-v-ia). Правда (pra-vda) if person sneezes while other person's speech. | "Be healthy." "To your health!" "It is true." | дякую (DIA-koo-you) | "Thank you." |
| Urdu | yar-hum-o-kullah (First the person who sneezed says "Alhamdulillah," 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 | Sogʻ boʻling or Salomat boʻling | "Be healthy." | Rahmat | "Thank you" |
| Vietnamese | Nothing in Vietnam. It might mean there is someone talking bad about you behind your back. | "Be healthy / Live long" | Cảm ơn/Cám ơn | "Thank you" |
| Welsh | Bendith or Bendith [Duw] arnat ti (familiar) or Bendith [Duw] arnoch chi (respectful) | "[God's] blessing on you." | Diolch | "Thank You" |
| Yiddish | זײַ געזונט (zay gezunt), צו געזונט (tsu gezunt), אסותא (asuse).[12]
After a second and third sneeze, צו לעבן (tsu lebn) and צו לאַנגע יאָר (tsu lange yor) respectively.[12] If someone is speaking when another sneezes, גענאָסן צום אמת (genosn tsum emes).[13] |
"Be healthy," "to health," "health (Aramaic)".
"To life," "for many years". "Sneezed on truth" |
A sneezer responds to his or her own sneeze with חיים (chaim) in another Jewish custom. | "Life." |
| Yoruba | Pẹ̀lẹ́ (kpeh-leh) | "Sorry" | O ṣé (oh shay, informal), Ẹ ṣé (eh shay, formal) | "Thank you" |
See also
References
- Duden (in German), DE/RO
- helfgott (in German), DE/RO: Duden
- Ons volksleven - Volume 5. L. Braeckmans. 1893. p. 23.
Nu nog hoort men dit leste in Duitschland, ofschoon het Gott helfe dir sterk afgewisseld wordt met het onchristelijk Gesundheit.
- Ronneberger, Monika (2014). Siebenbürgisches Wörterbuch zwischen Ajuria und Ziweben (in German). DE/RO. ISBN 9783737521291.
- "zum Wohl – Wiktionary". de.wiktionary.org (in German). Retrieved 2018-09-28.
- Visindavefur (in Icelandic), IS.
- "Сбер". interesnoe.me. Retrieved 2023-05-18.
- ThemeFuse (26 April 2012). "Say Cheers in 50 Different Languages". Retrieved 5 July 2017.
- dict.leo.org (in German), RO
- "prosit". Sök i tre ordböcker på en gång (in Swedish). Retrieved 2019-05-30.
- "Чхати я хотів: чи потрібно казати людям «Будь здоровий»". The Village Україна. 2019-10-11. Retrieved 2023-08-05.
- Schaechter-Viswanath, Gitl; Glasser, Paul, eds. (2016). Comprehensive English-Yiddish Dictionary. Indiana University Press. ISBN 978-0-253-02282-0.
- "Sneeze Confirmed the Truth". A Way With Words. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
Explanatory notes
- From Latin where it means "I wish it will benefit you"
- It is somewhat known to say Schönheit, "beauty", after a second or third sneeze and Klugheit, "prudence" after another, or the like, though this is somewhat humorous. The sense is to extend the wish from health to yet other personal qualities also ending in -heit.
- From Latin where it means "May it be good"
Further reading
- Knowlson, T. Sharper (1910). "(19) SNEEZING". The Origins of Popular Superstitions and Customs, pp. 175–179. A book that lists many superstitions and customs that are still common today.
- Mikkelson, Barbara (2001). "Bless You!" Snopes.
- Stollznow, Karen (2014). "'God Bless You!' – A Blessing in Disguise?" Skeptic Magazine (19) 4.
External links
The dictionary definition of sneeze at Wiktionary
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