In this mini episode, you will learn what people say after someone sneezes
Episode 486 of the Everybody ESL podcast is a mini episode that teaches you what people say after someone sneezes. Send your questions about English and your comments and suggestions to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. (And let me know if you’d like to record the introduction to a future episode.)
Intro
“Hello, everyone! This is Miso from South Korea. And you’re listening to Everybody ESL.”
Welcome to episode 486 of Everybody ESL, the podcast for everybody who wants to improve their English, practice their English, or just learn more English. My name is Ben, and I have a mini episode for you today, where I am going to teach you about one English topic. You can subscribe to the Everybody ESL podcast at Apple podcasts and wherever you find your podcasts. If you like Everybody ESL, leave it a good review so other people can find out about it too. And if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for me, please send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. Okay! Let’s get on with this mini episode.
The episode
In this episode, I am going to talk about something you might not have thought about. I’m going to talk about sneezing.
To be specific, I’m going to talk about what Americans say after someone sneezes.
There are two different things you might hear Americans say after someone sneezes. It’s possible that other English-speaking people also say these things, but I know this is what Americans say.
The first thing you might hear Americans say after someone sneezes is “God bless you.”
God bless you. G-o-d, b-l-e-s-s, y-o-u. God bless you.
And yes, I think even people who are not religious in any way sometimes say, “God bless you.”
There is also a shorter form of this. Instead of saying, “God bless you,” people will say, “Bess you.” Just “Bless you.”
The other thing that you will hear Americans say is a little bit strange. Because, for reasons I don’t understand, Americans often say a German word after someone sneezes. We often use a German word in that situation. Why do we do this? I don’t know.
The word is gesundheit. Gesundheit. That’s spelled g-e-s-u-n-d-h-e-i-t. Gesundheit.
I think that pronunciation is close to the German pronunciation, but it might not be exactly the same.
I don’t know how this custom started, but it does make a little sense when you realize that gesundheit means “health.” It means health. So, in both of these situations—with “God bless you” and with “Gesundheit”—what people are saying is something like, “I hope you are well. You just sneezed, and I hope you are not sick. I hope you are well.”
I should say, I don’t think that people really think that when they say, “God bless you” or “Bless you” or “Gesundheit.” This really is just a custom. This is just what many people say without thinking about it. And I should say, not all Americans say anything after someone sneezes.
That is the custom of saying certain things after someone sneezes. And I think this is an important thing for you to know.
Outro
This is the end of episode 486 of Everybody ESL. Remember: If you have any questions about English, or if you have comments for me, or if you would like to record an introduction that I can play at the beginning of future episodes—the same way Miso recorded the introduction you heard at the beginning of this episode—send an email to EverybodyESL@gmail.com. I’ll be back soon with a new episode. And until then, keep going, keep practicing, and keep learning. I’ll see you soon. Goodbye!