[Image from HERE. Obviously, she had a mouthful of arrows.]
When someone sneezes, what do you say?
Lots of people say "Gesundheit". That's German for something, but I'll be damned if I know what. Anyway, I don't know why we Americans are using foreign words when a perfectly fine alternative such as "God bless you" exists. Not only does it let the sneezer know you care, it let's them know you're not German and it also pisses off any atheists in the general vicinity. Win-Win-Win!
Actually, MY WIFE and I were discussing this the other day, and...
(Oh, heck, I guess I have to tell you that I don't really have anything against Germans. They're swell folks. Could I possibly not like any country that gave me sauerbraten? No. And, also, yes, MY WIFE and I really were discussing sneezing. We live an exciting life.)
Anyway, one of us - I forget who, but it doesn't matter unless you're thinking of having one of us committed - said, "I think it would be really cool if, instead of 'Gesundheit!' or 'God bless you!', people said 'Woo-Hoo!' when someone sneezed."
First Guy: "Achoo!"
Other Person: "Woo-Hoo!"
Wouldn't that be excellent? Imagine you're in a public setting, say in a subway car, and someone sneezes. Currently, a few people would mumble "bless you" under their breath. But, if it was OK to yell "Woo-Hoo!" almost everybody in the train would do it, there would be smiles all around, and everybody's day would be brighter. Tell the truth. You'd actually look forward to people sneezing. You might even fake one once in a while just to hear people let loose with a bunch of "Woo-Hoo!"
(Yeah, true, we might still want to use 'bless you' at funerals, but, then again, maybe not. I'm willing to bet that a whole slew of "Woo-Hoo!" might even cheer up a grieving widow. It's worth a shot.)
Go ahead. You know you want to. When someone sneezes today, give them a "Woo-Hoo!" What's the worst that's going to happen? You'll probably get a smile or two, and maybe we can start a movement.
Soon, with more better [*snuff*]
24 comments:
I'll have to think on that for a bit...it kinda just seems wrong...funny but wrong. Like if you struck out would you rather hear, "Next time Sully." or "Woo Hoo!"
Love this post!
It's Sully at his finest. That's why I love to read your stuff; you think deep and issue me challenge (or a dare...sounds more like a dare to me.)
Dangerous, 'cause I'm actually thinking about sayin' "Whoo-Hoo" to the next person who sneezes. I'll let you know how that turns out.
(Love the way you thought about funerals...shakin' my head, but laughing at your wit....and your wife's. I'm giving her the credit for the thought processing going on here, too. She's a gem. You're a Jim. )
J.
Nope. Ain't ever gonna fly. Nice try, though.
Bless You!
I laughed at the paragraph on the German. Great going Sul. I don't know why you aren't a worldwide literary sensation yet. You are fabulous my man!
Gesundheit is the German word for "health". The Germans have a word for everything. Even sneezing.
In most German counties there is the "Gesundheitsamt" which is the county "Health Office". A German friend of mine found it hysterical that I would refer to that as the "Sneeze Office".
Then we'd drink bratwurst and beer.
Love it. Bless you is just so damn staid.
I think Sarge has a permanent spot at the end of the bar at the Bull and Finch.
I think that's a great idea! (I'd love to eavesdrop on some of you and YOUR WIFE's conversations. :)
I don't know. Every time someone would say, "Woo Hoo" I would think of Homer on the Simpsons cartoon.
I can't remember where I read it (I think it was a book about superstitions), but it said that when a person sneezed, it was their soul trying to escape. By saying, "God Bless You," it ensured the soul would return to the person's body.
I'm going to do it next time hubby sneezes. Woo-hoo!
It would certainly brighten my having to listen to my Sweetie's sneezes, which always come in multiples. Very loud multiples.
A Woo-Hoo movement? I like it!
I could always tell who was doing the sneezing when I was safely tucked up in bed, as my dad sneezed "HASH!" amd my mum sneezed "WOOSHAH!"
.... and regarding Germans, I once saw the very best bumper sticker that said....
You can always tell a German....... BUT NOT MUCH!
My best friend's automatic response to someone sneezing is "EW" and then he immediately breaks out the antibacterial hand stuff and the Lysol spray.
It seems to me I heard that I heard the term, "God bless you" came about back in in the mid fourteenth century
It was something about one of the first symptoms of the plague was a simple sneeze
When someone observed that sneeze they would say, "God bless you" as a short prayer for the afflicted individual
Of course, that would explain it only for the English speaking countries
And that only if they spoke English the same way we do today
you are too silly...but I am pretty sure someone is going to sue me for saying God Bless you when they sneeze because it is getting almost illegal to mention The Big Guy's name anymore...but should you sneeze in my vicinity, I will quietly bless you to prevent the demons from taking you over
Sandi
A buddy of mine, when someone sneezed in his presence, used to ask, "Get any on ya?"
I'll try it
My family had a couple of weird responses to sneezing. My grandmother would sometimes say "Hawooshie" (no idea if I've spelled that right), and mom's favorite is "Sketchum."
Don't judge us.
That was cute. I remember saying to a co-worker who was Jehovah's Witness, God Bless you...and she shrugged it off as...Oh that's okay......whatever lol. Left me in a slightly awkward spot...maybe if I would have realized Whoo Hoo was an option I could have finished with that. :)
Totally in love with this idea! I sneeze on average about 15 times a day. That's a whole lot of woo-hoos! Yea!
I have to confess that I find it just a tiny bit amusing that the folks who created the image you use here felt that it was important to represent our 'Sneezer' as, specifically, a woman, like those breast-bump profiles somehow add to the concept. . .
Or, you know, maybe I'm just weird. . .
Funny that the same word.. "woo-hoo" could be used in response to "achoo" and to "Oh look, Suldog has another post out."
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