“Bless You”

Many people have become accustomed to saying bless you when someone sneezes. Some people believed that a sneeze causes the soul to escape the body through the nose, and saying bless you would stop the devil from claiming the person’s freed soul. Other people believed the opposite that evil spirits use the sneeze as an opportunity to enter a person’s body. Romans would say “Jupiter preserve you” or “Slave,” which meant good health to you. The Greeks would wish each other “long life.”