A is for ACHOOO!

a2z: Take 2. Patty Wysong Helping bloggers blog.


My good friend Patty is at it again!

We're off on another series of blogs through the alphabet.
I like these because, although we are limited by a letter,
I can be funny, serious, or informative... Today, I'm sick.



I've been sneezing and coughing for the last couple days. Sneezes are funny. Just ask any baby. They're funny in any language or any age, but especially from animals or children... and even old folks, too. I usually don't like to sneeze because sometimes one sneeze triggers another, and I can't stop. That can be embarrassing sometimes.


A...A...ACHOO!

Did I hear a "God bless you" ?

Thank you!

Do you know where that phrase came from?

Mostly, the response to the sneeze came from the superstition that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" (or something similar) would stop the devil from claiming the person's freed soul. Others believed the opposite: that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person's body. Some believed that the heart momentarily stops during a sneeze (it doesn't), and that saying "bless you" was a way of welcoming the person back to life.

I'm not superstitious at all, but I do want God to bless me and those around me with good health... so I will say -



Gesundheit! (Germany)
Salute! (Italy)
A te sante! (France)
Salud! (Spain)
Dia linn! (Ireland)
"May you live 100 years!" (China)
"May your dreams come true!" (Australia)


(the panda sneeze, by request)








For more A2Z, go to Ordinary Lives.

9 comments:

Joanne Sher said...

Salud - Hebrew :)

So sorry. Pray you're feeling better SOON. (and bless you!)

Shelley Ledfors said...

I'm sorry about your cold, but enjoyed your informative post! Good way to "write what you know" for this post!

Melissa Henson said...

Loved the videos! My kids will have fun practicing their new blessings as I sneeze on a regular basis!! I will pray you feel better soon.

Nancy K. Sullivan said...

Way to make a great day out of not-so-wonderful one. Loved the post and learning more about an expression that could easily be treated too casually. Praying God does bless you abundantly, Vonnie, and that you feel better real soon.

Sparrow said...

Aww, sorry you are sick. I think of the history of the phrase every time I respond to a sneeze with "bless you." LOL

Barbara Lynn Culler said...

Cute post! Have you seen the video of the baby panda sneezing?

Hope you are feeling better by now.

Julie Arduini said...

Being sick isn't fun, but your post definitely was. I hope you feel better soon. I agree with Barbara, the panda video is so cute!

Yvonne Blake said...

Yes, it was hard to choose between the panda and the elephant. (Now, if there had been a giraffe, there would have been no contest)

I added it for anyone who hasn't seen it.

Niki Turner said...

Geshundeit! Hope you are all mended by now!
My boss at the newspaper has multi-sneeze attacks... 8-12 sneezes in a row almost daily. It's kind of funny because just when you get ready to say "bless you" he sneezes again!

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