In our evolving world, manners are changing to adapt to a larger audience. Over time, we alter the way we speak, walk, eat, and surprisingly, sneeze. For example, curtsying and bowing have fallen out of fashion, it is less likely to hear someone say “yes ma’am” or “yes sir,” and in modern America, you won’t catch someone kissing the hand of a stranger they just met. The extinction of such practices seems normal and natural. 

However, some complain that continuing to relax on polite practices is leading America down the wrong road. In fact, one study found that over 74% of Americans believe we are experiencing a decline in manners. 

Is it just me, or is the once-common response to a person who sneezes, “bless you,” also going out of style? Furthermore, does its history make it offensive and awkward to the non-religious?

The polite term offered to someone who has either been touched by sickness or allergies was originally “God bless you.” While this much is known, nothing else is written in stone concerning the origin of the phrase.

There are, however, a multitude of theories.

The first, and most popular, theory holds that the phrase first became popular during the deadly Bubonic plague. Sneezing was apparently a common symptom of the disease, so Pope Gregory I was rumored to have suggested a “mini-prayer” to protect a person from death after they sneeze. According to this theory, the prayer was simply “God bless you,” and according to MIT, “offered a benediction to someone who might no longer be living soon.”

Another theory goes a little further. It stems from the idea that sneezing causes your soul to leave your body. Apparently, people only could be saved from losing their soul and protected “against the devil snatching their soul” if God blessed them.

People even convinced themselves that sneezing temporarily stopped your heart and only a blessing could cause it to continue to beat. An article written by journalist Barbara Mikkelson claims that under this theory, “’Bless you!’ was uttered either as a supplication for life to return or as a congratulation upon its successful restart.” 

One last theory claims that the phrase actually had nothing to do with the health of the sneezer, but rather their luck. Mikkelson writes, “these expulsions are either in themselves lucky or foretell good fortune coming the sneezer’s way. For them, the ‘Bless you!’ is a recognition of incoming good luck, possibly even an attempt on the blesser’s part to attract a bit of it to himself.”

Evidently, the true beginnings of the well-wishing phrase are unclear. However, it still remains the leading English response to a sneeze.

Other countries and cultures also have a word or phrase that wishes health or references God when acknowledging a sneeze. “Gesundheit,” for example, is the German word meaning “health,” and it is used whenever someone sneezes in German.

Although a polite response to a sneeze has long spanned various cultures, more and more English speakers are protesting the use of “bless you,” citing a need for religious political correctness, and (perhaps in a preposterous stretch of logic) a goal to move on from the plague. Other sources claim it is an embarrassing call to attention of a person’s bodily functions.

Regardless of the argument, to many Americans, “bless you” is definitely becoming less of a polite well-wishing statement and more of an annoying phrase.

Despite all of this, it’s clear that “God bless you” was simply a term used to express a desire for healing, and God was included because most people of the time directly associated Him with health. 

But maybe seeing the term “bless you” as immediately religious is the main problem. The phrase has already been reduced to exclude God, and it’s clear that, in this time, its only purpose is to wish well the sneezer, not to condemn or embarrass them. Christians and atheists alike can be polite without focusing on religious and political differences. 

The origins of the phrase are unknown, and the theories are superstitious, but the purpose is to be kind and thoughtful towards someone who is sick.

Perhaps we can leave politics out of politeness and simply continue to wish well on others.

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Editors’ note: All opinions expressed on The Uproar are a reflection solely of the beliefs of the bylined author and not the journalism program at NASH.  We continue to welcome school-appropriate comments and guest articles.