1. People believed that it has to do with plague which happened many years ago. If people sneezed, it meant they are ill and therefore were probably about to die and ‘bless you’ was used as a way of showing compassion for dying.
2. The purpose of saying ‘bless you’ is when you sneeze, you stop breathing i.e. the heart stops momentarily so bless you basically means that hope that your heart is ticking.
3. In middle ages, when this custom began, people frequently died from colds, which typically began with a sneeze, so if anyone sneezes, people would say ‘bless you’ in the hope you are not starting anything bad.
4. It is still supposed to be when someone sneezes they are riding the evil from them and saying bless you stops the evil going back in.
5. People would pray to God so that HE would bless the one who sneezed because people believe sneezing could blow your soul out of the body.
Do you agree?
Tapti Saha 