为什么英国人打喷嚏时要说“Bless you”_英美文化

为什么英国人打喷嚏时要说“Bless you”

“gesundheit”这一术语来源于德国，字面意思是“健康”。他们认为打喷嚏代表着即将感染疾病。在20世纪早期，这一短语由德国移民带入了美国，开始在英语中使用。

Virtually every country around the globe has its own way of wishing sneezers well. People in Arabic countries say, "Alhamdulillah," which means, "praise be to God." Hindus say, "Live!" or "Live well!" Some countries have special sneezing responses for children. In Russia, after children are given the traditional response, "bud zdorov" ("be healthy"), they are also told "rosti bolshoi" ("grow big"). When a child sneezes in China, he or she will hear "bai sui," which means, "may you live 100 years."

事实上，世界上每个国家都有自己的方式表达对打喷嚏者的祝愿。阿拉伯语国家的人会说“感谢真主”，意思是“赞美归于真神”。印度教徒会说“活着”或“好好活着”。一些国家对小孩子打喷嚏有着特殊的反应。在俄罗斯，人们在给予传统祝福“愿你健康”后，还会祝愿孩子“长得高大”。在中国孩子啊打喷嚏时，会听到人们对他或她说“百岁”，意思是“愿你长命百岁”。

For the most part, the various sneeze responses originated from ancient superstitions. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose. Saying "bless you" 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. There was also the misconception 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.