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How did we come to say something courteous to someone after they’ve sneezed
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this post was submitted on 02 Sep 2023
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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
"A sneeze is your soul trying to leave your body. Saying God Bless You shoves it back in."
I always say this as a joke. I'm pretty sure it's from the Simpsons, and not an actual historical belief. If you have any source that shows this an old wives tale or folkloric legend, I'd love to see it. That'd make it even funnier to me haha.
I was told this explanation in the 1970s by someone who was told it in the 1930s. So unless Groening is a time traveler, it didn’t originate with the Simpsons.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/bless-you/ is a good read; the truth is that Europeans and Middle Easterners have been doing it for so long (at least 2000 years) that the reason is lost to time; now it’s purely tradition/cultural. Early writings record that it was done, but not why.
Makes sense why my mom sneezes upwards of ten times in a row now