Why is health after a sneeze? Let's review the etiquette ...

On reflection, you will have convinced yourself that you answer "health" to a sneeze to ward off a bad cold on the way. But the motivation is not so simple ... Its origins are very distant in time and have taken on different meanings according to the various historical periods.
But do you think sneezing is embarrassing? Certainly not as much as in these cases ...

Why do we say health when a person sneezes? The story explains it to us ...

From what we read from the philosopher Aristotle, it seems that the origin of this wish goes back to ancient Greece, where sneezing was interpreted as a signal from the brain which, as the seat of the spirit and intelligence, was honored with a formula .
Even in ancient Rome the same belief had spread that saw sneezing as a message of thought, to which, according to Pliny, it was necessary to respond with a "hello" followed by the name of the person who had sneezed.

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The answer "health" has retained a positive value even in the Middle Ages, where it was used to wish those who sneeze that they had not contracted the Black Death, of which it was one of the most common symptoms.
In the 17th century, sneezing was still believed to be associated with the head and, according to Th.Browne, sneezing was used to release steam and keep the brain healthy.

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What if saying health was rude? The version of the etiquette.

On the Etiquette, however, we read many different rules. Saying health is seen as a gesture of rudeness, because it focuses even more attention on the person who sneezed.
Sneezing, in fact, is something intimate and as such embarrasses those who do it in public, who should immediately apologize for it.
In short, whether you like to answer "health" or not, history supports you!
If you want to be really cute, next time you can also offer a packet of handkerchiefs like this: