"God bless you."

Question

When I studied a word 'cough', I saw a strange idiom in that situation. Of course, I knew the meaning of the idiom, but couldn't understand why it used in that situation.
One person had a cough. And just then the other person said "God bless you."
I want to know why the idiom is used in that situation. Do "God bless you" have another meaning? Or what mean? Please tell me about it!!!

Usenet · Accepted Answer

[nq:1]When I studied a word 'cough', I saw a strange idiom in that situation. Of course, I knew the meaning ... is used in that situation. Do "*** bless you" have another meaning? Or what mean? Please tell me about it!!![/nq]
I haven't encountered that usage with a cough, but with a sneeze, yes. When a person sneezes, another person present may say "*** bless you!" or, the shortened form, "Bless you!"
Why the custom arose is not definitively established. People who try to establish the truth of urban legends have looked into the matter and you can find one discussion of the origin of the custom at

http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/blessyou.htm

These expressions are examples of the "formulaic subjunctive," that is, a use of the subjunctive which people would ordinarily have used in the past but which is no longer used except in fixed expressions, that is, they're a sort of linguistic fossil. Other examples are "*** bless the Queen" and "as it were." The expression does not come from "May *** bless you": The use of the "may"-construction as a substitute for the subjunctive came later.

Some people say "Bless you!" because it is simply a convention It's "the thing to do" in that situation. Some people may have a superstitious feeling about the matter they may think that something terrible may happen if they don't say it.
I don't say "Bless you!" when someone sneezes, but I do occasionally say "Gesundheit!" because that's what I learned to say in such a case. This is an originally German word, meaning "health," which is used among some English speakers as the standard reply for when someone sneezes. I'm not superstitious about it: It's just the polite thing to do.

Raymond S. Wise
Minneapolis, Minnesota USA
E-mail: mplsray @ yahoo . com

Usenet · Answer

[nq:1]When I studied a word 'cough', I saw a strange idiom in that situation. Of course, I knew the meaning ... is used in that situation. Do "*** bless you" have another meaning? Or what mean? Please tell me about it!!![/nq]
This reaction is less common to a cough, but when someone sneezes, almost always someone nearby will say "*** bless you" (or "Gesundheit"). It's an automatic reaction that we all learn as small children, because our mothers learned it as small children, going back many generations. Those of us who wonder why have been told that "*** bless you" is said to keep the sneezing person's soul from departing his body as he sneezes.
"Gesundheit" makes more sense; it is the German word for "good health," and is said as a wish for the person who has sneezed. A large portion of the early settlers here in what is now the U.S. came from Germany, and many Americans who say "Gesundheit" have no idea that it is German. They think of it as a charm against sneezing.

Cece

Usenet · Answer

[nq:2]When I studied a word 'cough', I saw a strange ... another meaning? Or what mean? Please tell me about it!!![/nq]
[nq:1]This reaction is less common to a cough, but when someone sneezes, almost always someone nearby will say "*** bless ... Americans who say "Gesundheit" have no idea that it is German. They think of it as a charm against sneezing.[/nq]
For a while there was this company in San Francisco that marketed reliefs for sneezine called Gazoontite.
http://www.mistersf.com/farewell/index.html?fwgazoontite.htm

Usenet · Answer

where i come from when someone sneezes we say " go home if you're sick" :<)

"God bless you."

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