Useless Info - 'Gesundheit'

'There are different theories regarding the origin of this phrase. One idea is that the expression stems from the Middle Ages when the Bubonic Plague was threatening European health.

In this case the person saying gesundheit was actually wishing good health upon themselves, since they may have been infected by the one who sneezed. During this time it was also commonly believed that sneezing made one's body vulnerable to evil spirits. Thus another plausible explanation is that gesundheit was a blessing to ward off demons while the sneezer's body was defenseless.

Superstitions date back as early as Ancient Greece (ref. Herodotus, History 440 BC). The soul was thought to leave the body through the nose upon death, so a powerful sneeze was thus considered an ominous event.

In Roman times, the use of Gesundheit as a blessing after sneezing was outlawed for a brief period by the Emperor Maxiumus IV, as he felt that the Latin term 'beatus vos' was far superior to the German-Yiddish Gesundheit. In 120 B.C., Maxiumus' ruling was repealed, and Gesundheit continued, until present day, as the phrase of choice when blessing a person after they have sneezed.

Scientists have now found a way to completely stop a person from sneezing for the rest of their lives with an injection Viroptic, they have also found that sneezing can cause serious damage to the eyes, ears, and puts pressure on the frontal lobe which can lead to trama and often convulsions if the sneezing is persistant or severe.'

Gesundheit