You probably say this phrase every day — but people think it’s ‘incredibly annoying’

Before you sip a drink you toast with ‘cheers’. It’s ‘bon appétit!’ as you tuck into a meal. And when someone sneezes? You follow it up with a ‘bless you’.

It’s one of those phrases you say almost instinctively (we bet you say it at least once a day) but you might not even know why you ask God to bless a sneezer.

Before the advent of modern medicine, an outward display of illness, like a sneeze, could be a very bad sign. ‘God bless you’ was a prayer to protect them from sickness — or worse.

It was also once thought that a sneeze might accidentally force your own soul from your body (a sneeze can travel up to 100mph after all), making way for demons to jump inside — that is, unless God blessed you to avoid it.

It’s a sweet gesture when you think about it, but these days, not everyone is happy to hear it.

On a recent Reddit thread, a poster asked: ‘What polite habit do you secretly find incredibly annoying?’ Surprising, saying ‘bless you’ was causing Redditors a fair bit of rage.

‘I hate when people say bless you to my sneezes. Now I’m obligated to say thank you; just let me sneeze in peace!’ exclaimed @mundan_prize_3894.

‘I just want to sneeze and not have people acknowledge my bodily function,’ begged @_whatsinaname on TikTok. While @user338413871070 claimed, ‘Whenever someone says that to me, I immediately don’t trust them.’

Even actor Paul Mescal agrees, who said in an interview: ‘It is actually just a waste of time,’ he said. ‘I never say bless you. Think about how weird that is. It’s very religious… I think we shouldn’t be doing that anymore.’

Why don’t some sneezers like hearing ‘bless you’?

Therapist Candace Newton explains that a ‘bless you’ can highlight something the sneezer would rather have ignored.

‘Sneezing makes a person lose control for a second. The body suddenly does something loud, everybody hears it, and there is no graceful way to stop it,’ she says.

‘Most people try to recover quickly by covering their face, looking down, and continuing with whatever they were doing. Then, somebody says bless you and confirms that the moment did not go unnoticed.

‘You are not only dealing with your nose, you are then managing a conversation you did not intend to have.

‘A polite response can still feel uncomfortable when it lands at the exact moment they are hoping everyone will look away.’

Candace adds the religious connotations may not be appreciated by everyone.

‘Many people use it without thinking about religion at all, but others hear the words more literally. They may not want a stranger bringing faith into an interaction involving their body,’ she says.

‘If you like saying bless you, say it once and move on. Do not wait for a thank you or repeat it after every sneeze.’

Is ‘bless you’ actually rude these days?

To bless you, or not to bless you? We asked etiquette expert Laura Windsor to help us out — and she had some pretty choice words for those who are anti a ‘bless you’.

She thinks people who hate being told ‘bless you’ need to get a grip. ‘Why would they think it’s rude or not polite?’ she asks Metro. ‘It’s an acknowledgement of your sneeze — it’s giving you attention and respect,’ she says.

In fact, Laura believes that getting irked by this is an indication of a ‘very negative mindset.’

‘People who are constantly offended by everything are always looking to disapprove of things and are basically emotionally unintelligent and fail to see beyond themselves,’ she says.

Overall, Laura advises that while ‘the manners police aren’t out to fine you,’ if you don’t say the phrase, it is good practice and shouldn’t be taken as a chore or a discourtesy.

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