Bless You?

There are varying accounts as to the origin of this response. 

Belief #1

Originated in Rome when the bubonic plague was raging through Europe.  One of the symptoms of the plague was coughing and sneezing, and it is believed that Pope Gregory I (Gregory the Great) suggested saying “God bless you” after a person sneezed in hopes that this prayer would protect them from an otherwise certain death.

Belief #2

The expression may have also originated from superstition. Some people believe that the custom of asking for God’s blessing began when ancient man thought that the soul was in the form of air and resided in the body’s head. A sneeze, therefore, might accidentally expel the spirit from the body unless God blessed you and prevented this from occurring.  

Belief #3

Some ancient cultures also thought that sneezing forced evil spirits out of the body endangering others because these spirits might now enter their bodies. The blessing was bestowed to protect both the person who sneezed and others around him.

Belief #4 (the one I had always heard)

Some people believed that when you sneezed it opened your body to allow an evil spirit to enter your body.  By saying "God Bless You" blocked any spirits from entering your body.

Sneeze responses from around the world:

English – “Bless you” or “God bless you”
German – “Gesundheit”
Greeks and Romans – “Banish the Omen”
Hindu – “Live” and responds “With you”
Zulu – “I am now blessed”

Interesting facts:

• Sneezes are an automatic reflex that can’t be stopped once sneezing starts.
• Sneezes can travel at a speed of 100 miles per hour and the wet spray can radiate five feet.
• People don’t sneeze when they are asleep because the nerves involved in nerve reflex are also resting.
• Between 18 and 35% of the population sneezes when exposed to sudden bright light.
• Some people sneeze when plucking their eyebrows because the nerve endings in the face are irritated and then fire an impulse that reaches the nasal nerve.
• Donna Griffiths from Worcestershire, England sneezed for 978 days, sneezing once every minute at the beginning. This is the longest sneezing episode on record.

So, it's no surprise that by saying "Bless You" or "God Bless You" or whatever it is that there is no point.  It does absolutely nothing.  We have just been taught (like many other things we do "just because") to always say it to someone or "Bless Me" if no one is around.  

To read more and see a funny cartoon from 1918 about it you can visit the Library of Congress.