Why do people say be healthy when you sneeze. Why do people say be healthy when they sneeze. Do I need to say "Be healthy!"

It will not be difficult for an educated person to calculate an ill-mannered person. He will easily bite even the half-educated. But pseudo-education is not easy to define.

There are many polite, but absolutely ill-mannered people in Russia. Their upbringing comes down to dogmas learned from the Soviet and post-Soviet past, which have nothing to do with good manners or etiquette.


You are not a waiter!

So, a pseudo-educated person always says: “Be healthy!”, even if a stranger or a participant in a business conference sneezes. Before eating, he always wishes everyone a pleasant appetite. And it would be fine only at home, in the circle of the same pseudo-educated people. No, we can often hear the words "bon appetit" in student canteens, at a party, at a banquet. Uneducated people often object with references to the West - they say, in Italy or France, restaurants make noise with this "bon appetit". Yes, they make noise. But these words are spoken in restaurants by waiters, in houses by servants. And we have anyone.

A pseudo-educated person, finding himself at a table in a company - even in a restaurant, even at home, knows that you can’t just go to the restroom just like that, so he comes up with explanations. “Excuse me, I need to powder my nose,” “I’ll go and call,” are typical euphemisms for such cases.

The truth is that etiquette condemns any public commentary on physiological topics. Appetite and sneezing are physiology. Commenting on it is stupid. Neighbor sneezed? Keep quiet. Politely act like you didn't notice. As for “bon appetit”, sometimes I personally want this phrase to ricochet right on the forehead of a polite person. Wishing you bon appetit, and even in a big company, is a bad tone. This habit annoys me so much that even after 15 years I remember all my classmates throwing this phrase right and left! In our philological canteen, every fifth student portrayed herself as a well-bred student. Because of this, it became absolutely impossible to enjoy dinner, because there was a hubbub of “bon appetit” overhead, and the mouth was busy with the response “thank you”.

Only neurotics greet everyone in a row

Such people, as a rule, always greet everyone they know out loud. And it's good if they met a housemate at the other end of the metropolis - here the greeting is more or less appropriate. But saying “hello” or “hello” loudly at a university or in a company where you have worked for 10 years and absolutely know everyone is stupid. Because in both places you will a priori come across only familiar people. Etiquette is not as irrational as it seems to ill-mannered people - there is exactly as much sense in how and whom to greet as in the order of laying out the cutlery at the plate: everything is subordinated to the convenience of a person.
To greet the people you inevitably meet every day on your way, there is a nod of the head - a descendant of the bow and heir to the curtsy.

Remember films about school and teachers. A typical image of a teacher's everyday life: poor woman, having escaped for a five-minute break, passes through the line of children, shouting out of order: “Hello, Tamara Ivanovna!” This happens at school, because children have not yet learned the norms of etiquette. As an adult, a person who daily says a personal “hello” to all five dozen of his colleagues looks like a neurotic.

If “bon appetit” and “bless you” are the fruit of the labor of workers and peasants who, after the extermination of the aristocracy, were forced to learn etiquette according to their fantasy ideas about this aristocracy, then the constant greeting aloud gives off a neurotic disorder. Worse than this "hello", splashed daily on each of the colleagues or teachers, can only be "good night", sent to the address, for example, of all the guests of the hotel in which the pseudo-educated person stayed. Have you seen these? In the morning they all wish good morning, in the second - good night. Also a variant of disorder and manic attraction to oneself. Saying “good morning” to everyone he meets, he wants not so much the reputation of a well-mannered person as attention. These words betray a lack of communication.

Where do Monsieurs with reticules come from

Pseudo-education is a complex phenomenon. mixed here and low level human culture, and his high self-criticism, and the complexes generated by these two monsters, which a pseudo-educated person tries to hide with dubious manners. Excessive politeness, inconvenient manners, importunate words - all this is the people's idea of ​​​​the life of educated people. An ill-bred person is distinguished from a pseudo-educated person by self-reflection. The latter understands the level of personal culture and tries to raise it, mistakenly relying not on etiquette textbooks, but on his own ideas about the rules. good manners. Therefore, he wishes everyone a pleasant appetite and good morning, carries a bag for a woman, opens a car door in front of a woman. And since he does not know for sure how and what kind of bag it is permissible to carry and how, in what position one should open the car door, funny men with microscopic purses and women in dirty shoes appear on the streets - they were trying to get out of the car through an awkwardly open door for them.

Previously, the carriers of such manners were pseudo-intellectuals - a vast layer of Soviet vocational school teachers, sellers of central department stores and employees of Intourist hotels. It was the pseudo-intellectuals who said “teapot”, “eat” and “throws”. And, of course, they wished everyone a bon appetit. The pseudo-intellectuals are gone, but their funny manners remain. People follow these manners because they do not see the bearers of real etiquette. For most people to learn any rules, they need illustrative examples. But there is nowhere to take them, except in one's own environment. So the common people are copying the habits of the best, as it seems to them, their representatives.

The situation can be easily corrected by one lesson at school or a brochure read. Most people do not need to know which side meat is served at silver service dinners - just learn a few phrases that cannot be said in society. And remember, finally, that a woman herself is able to carry a woman's handbag.


20.10.2016 14:01 1234

Why do we say "Be healthy!"

But is it true, why when a person sneezes, we do not hesitate to say “Be Healthy!”, but do not react when, for example, he coughs?

This habit in most cases comes from our family, from our parents. For example, your dad and mom tell you "be healthy" when you sneeze and you take an example from them, considering this phrase as a common courtesy. After all, wishing a person well means wishing him well.

Once upon a time, such a wish for a sneezer had slightly different reasons. People were simply afraid of various diseases, and therefore, if someone nearby sneezed, they wished this person health so that his illness could not pass to them.

IN different countries many traditions are associated with sneezing. So, for example, in England, if a person sneezes, they will say “God bless you!”, In Germany - like in Russia, they wish health, in Italy - happiness, and in the East they clap their hands bow in the direction of the sneezed.

Here is such an interesting tradition.


It is no secret that a person who sneezes in public experiences a certain embarrassment. People around at the right time would not notice this, treat the embarrassment that happened naturally and calmly, but for some reason it is customary to wish health to the sneezed with zeal. Such wishes seem especially paradoxical during periods viral infections when every second sneezes, and more often than usual. The key to unraveling these behavioral stereotypes lies in the historical background.

First, in most cases, the habit takes its roots in the family. After all, it is at home that a child hears “Be healthy” from childhood, on a subconscious level perceiving this as a norm of polite behavior established in society. Although this is not the worst habit, it is quite difficult to get rid of it. Parents are sometimes unaware that it is worth being healthy all the time, and not just during a sneeze. But what can you do, because you can’t just get around family traditions.

Secondly, the custom of wishing health when sneezing came from pagan superstitions and even folk tales. People have always associated the manifestation of a sneeze with certain life events and saw some signs in this act. Even more people wondered: why does a sneeze occur? As A.P. Chekhov: "... Everyone sneezes," that is, the common people and "... sometimes even secret advisers." So, since pagan times, sneeze has been firmly associated with predictions of fate or natural phenomena, signs or even natural disasters. For example, Afonya asks the witch: how many years he will live, to which she replies that ninety. At this moment, the cat sneezes. Afonya was delighted, interpreting the cat's sneeze as confirmation of the prediction. This is the whole essence of superstition. The fact is that a person is looking for confirmation of his subjective forecasts in everything. By the way, quite often forecasts come true, which once again proves that a positive attitude and faith in miracles help in life.

Thirdly, sneezing was perceived in ancient times as a manifestation of dangerous and even fatal diseases, for example: the Athenian plague. True, in the Middle Ages, a person who sneezed was said: "God help." And, nevertheless, a sneeze was a signal to others about the danger of infection. People were afraid of all kinds of plagues, epidemics, mass disasters. From a medical point of view, the justification for the wishes of health looks the most convincing. It is clear that people do not want to get sick, so they want health. Even in modern society, illness deprives a person of his ability to work and is a serious test for the whole family, and in ancient times, all the more, illness meant only one thing - trouble.

People often say that money can't buy health. True, today this statement can be argued. Of course, you can’t buy it, but you can only fix it with money. Today, official medicine sees only physiology and biology in a sneeze: the effects of viruses, allergic reactions, diseases nervous system. Traditional healers do not exclude that sneezing helps to expel diseases. Who knows, perhaps there is some truth in this statement.

October 13, 2016 13:50

By Fabiosa

Have you ever wondered why we wish a person health while sneezing, but not when coughing? There are a lot of versions of this tradition, and all of them are connected with superstitions.

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Jewish tradition says that when God created man, he breathed life into him. But then he decided to make Adam mortal: he sneezed and thereby exhaled her from himself. Subsequently, people sneezed only once in their lives - before death.

Once, after his first and last sneeze, Jacob asked God not to take him away, and God agreed, but made some changes: he gave people old age and illness. So people no longer died immediately after a sneeze and began to wish each other health.

IN medieval Europe sneezing was a harbinger of the plague. People were very afraid to sneeze and said: "God help." Moreover, not only those who were nearby spoke, but also the sneezing person himself.

In the Novgorod chronicles there are fragments of stories in which it is written that when a child sneezes, the devil is going to kidnap him. Therefore, parents had to say to their child: “Be healthy, guardian angel!”, Wishing health not to the baby himself, but to his guardian angel.

The ancient Romans believed that if a person sneezes, then his soul can fly out when sneezing. To a sneezing man, they said: "May the Gods hide your soul back!"

In Asian countries, people believed that in hell there is a certain judge who writes down people who are going to be taken away soon in his book, and a sneeze is a sign of making this entry. In this regard, people tried their best to restrain the sneeze so that the judge would not write them down in this terrible book.

The Scots had the opposite - sneezing was considered a sign of mental health. They were impatiently waiting for their child to sneeze, as stupid children allegedly did not know how to do this.

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There is still a belief that the moment of a sneeze foreshadowed some event. That is why, when one told something, and the other sneezed, they said: “Oh! Exactly! So it's true!"

IN modern world the English say: "God bless you!" - the Germans and Russians wish health, and the Italians - happiness. In the Near and Middle East, they bow towards the person who sneezed and clap their hands.

Here are some interesting beliefs about sneezing!

As everyone knows, a person who sneezes, if it happened to him in public, feels slightly uncomfortable. Logically, people around should not notice this, so as not to cause even more inconvenience to the person who sneezed, but in spite of this, they energetically begin to wish him health, saying "be healthy!" it looks especially strange during mass colds, when every third sneezes heavily, and does it much more often than usual. And the answer to this riddle can be found in the historical background.

The first premise is established household traditions. After all, it is in the family, at home, that we have been accustomed to hearing "be healthy" since childhood, and we are sure to the depths of our souls that this is the norm of polite behavior. This, of course, is not such a terrible habit, but since it sits deep in our subconscious, it is almost impossible to get rid of it. At one time, your parents, wishing you health when you sneezed, did not think that you need it not only when you sneeze, but almost constantly. But, there is nothing to be done about it, family traditions are almost like second nature, and it is impossible to change them so easily.

Second premise. The tradition of wishing health to someone who sneezes came to us from pagan times, namely from ancient superstitions, somewhere even from fairy tales. Since ancient times, sneezing has been associated with some kind of sign or vital important event. Since the time of paganism, these signs have been associated with prophecy, any events, natural phenomena, natural disasters or a prediction of someone's fate.

For example, a certain Ivan asks the sorcerer: how much he has left to live in this world, to which he gives the answer, 85 years. And at the same time, a nearby cat suddenly sneezes. Vanya immediately rejoiced, taking Barsik's sneezing as confirmation of the predicted date. This is the essence of superstition. Any person is always trying to find some kind of confirmation of his personal assumptions. By the way, these assumptions often come true, which once again confirms that optimism and a positive attitude are very, very useful in our lives.

Third premise. Even in antiquity, sneezing was considered a manifestation of dangerous and even fatal diseases, for example, the African plague. But, already in the Middle Ages, the one who sneezed was wished "God help". But still, due to the superstitious fear of epidemics, mass pestilence, various cataclysms, the fact of sneezing was considered a kind of danger, for example, one could get infected.

If you look from the point of view of medicine, then it is very logical to wish health to a person who has sneezed, no one wants to get sick, and therefore they wish health. Even today with high level development in the field of healthcare, getting sick for a person is a serious test, it is a loss of ability to work and severe health, and what can we say about ancient times, when illness often meant only death.

As folk wisdom says, you cannot pay for health with money. However, money in today's world can seriously help improve your health. modern medicine Today, sneeze attacks are explained only by physiological and biological mechanisms. She blames only viruses, allergic reactions, or an unhealthy nervous system for the appearance of sneezing. Representatives of alternative medicine are sure that sneezing is a natural reaction that helps a person cope with the disease, which may well be.

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