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sneezing woman

Gesundheit

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Gesundheit is the German word for health, and is now widely used in the English language as an exclamation or interjection after another person sneezes.  This wishes the sneezer better health or the avoidance of further illness, and is equivalent to the traditional phrase “Bless you” which invokes divine protection of the sneezer if used by a believer, and is a standard social formality if used by a non-believer.

The word  may have passed into wider English usage after being imported to the USA by the many German-speaking immigrants in the late nineteenth century, with many usage examples cited in print.  It later seems to have lost its usage there as a toasting salutation, similar to “To  your good health” or “Prost” or “Skol”, suggesting that the health risks of alcohol are not to be sneezed at.