Date: Wed, 22 Oct 1997 17:15:14 PDT
From: Amy Schroeder ashroede[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]COUNSEL.COM
Subject: Re: Bless You
My sixth grade teacher, rest her soul, insisted that we say God Bless You,
because, in her opinion, when you sneezed your spirit literally left your
body. Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't there some ancient Greek source
for this, something along the lines of one's spirit inhabiting the breath?
----------
I have a horrible feeling that "puppy pie" is the same as Johanna's "cow
pie,"
just from a different source, and that the bargee was upset to be called
the
equivalent of a "shit eater," as well he might be!
And while I'm at it, doesn't saying "Bless you" when someone sneezes go
back
to
the Black Death and sneezing as a symptom of plague? Remember that lovely
bit
of dialogue from _The Lady's Not for Burning_, said by the priest (abbot,
friar
whoever) just as he exits, "God bless you in case you sneeze." "Thank
you. I
may." Talk about preventive medicine! (Actually, this relationship just
dawned on me after I'd been talking to a class about the nursery rhyme
"Ring
Around a-Rosy" and its imitation of the plague-stricken.)