this post was submitted on 31 Mar 2025
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The phrase everyone's looking at is "bless you" these days (US accent) ... the Germans are not the badies anymore ... sorry to say, but strangely enough, they are among the good guys now.
I've always preferred "gesundheit" as it's wishing the person good health rather than using religious terminology.
The polish version (Na zdrowie!) is basically the same, someone should make a map of what kind of response one gives when someone sneezes (religious, health, etc.)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Response_to_sneezing
I'm using that!
"Bless" is archaic, but I don't think it has to be exclusively religious.
EDIT: I looked for alternate definitions, but I guess it pretty much does always refer to holy/divine approval...
Bless
verb
to consecrate or sanctify by a religious rite; make or pronounce holy
I think bless is an inherently religious word, although not necessarily of any particular religion
Okay, you've convinced me.
It has a religious origin, but it can certainly be used secularly, and is more often than not. I just like avoiding it when possible.