“Bless You”

“Bless You”

Whenever someone sneezes, you say “Bless You” or hear someone else say these words.

Why?

Because people used to believe that a sneeze would cause the soul to escape the body through the nose. So when they said “Bless You” it was a way to stop the devil from taking over the body. Another belief was that when someone sneezed their heart would momentarily stop and that saying “Bless You” was a way of welcoming the person back to life.

When?

It was first originated thousands of years ago by Romans and first entered the English language in the early part of the 20^th century, brought by German-speaking immigrants to the United States.

How?

The Romans would say "Jupiter preserve you" which meant "good health to you," and the Greeks would wish each other "long life." The phrase "God bless you" is attributed to Pope Gregory the Great, who uttered it in the sixth century during a bubonic plague epidemic.

Where?

Rome