October 13, 2016 13:50

By Fabiosa

Have you ever wondered why when we sneeze, we wish a person health, but when we cough, we don’t? There are many versions of this tradition, and they are all associated with superstitions.

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Jewish traditions say that when God created man, he breathed life into him. But then he decided to make Adam mortal: he sneezed and thereby breathed it out of himself. Subsequently, people sneezed only once in their lives - before death.

One day Jacob, after his first and last sneeze, asked God not to take him away, and God agreed, but made some changes: he gave people old age and illness. So people no longer died immediately after a sneeze and began to wish each other health.

In medieval Europe, sneezing was a harbinger of plague. People were very afraid to sneeze and said: “God help you.” Moreover, not only those who were nearby spoke, but also the sneezer himself.

In the Novgorod chronicles there are fragments of stories in which it is written that when a child sneezes, the devil is going to kidnap him. Therefore, parents had to tell their child: “Be healthy, guardian angel!”, wishing health not for the baby himself, but for his guardian angel.

The ancient Romans believed that if a person sneezed, his soul could fly out when he sneezed. They said to the sneezing man: “May the Gods hide your soul back!”

In Asian countries, people believed that in hell there was a certain judge who wrote down in his book the people he was going to take away soon, and a sneeze was a sign that this entry had been made. In this regard, people tried their best to hold back their sneezes so that the judge would not write them down in this terrible book.

The Scots had the opposite - sneezing was considered a sign of mental health. They waited impatiently for their child to sneeze, since stupid children supposedly did not know how to do this.

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There is also a belief that the moment of a sneeze foreshadowed some event. That is why, when one was telling something and the other was sneezing, they said: “Oh! Exactly! So it’s true!”

IN modern world the English say: “God bless you!”, the Germans and Russians wish you health, and the Italians wish you happiness. In the Near and Middle East they bow towards the person who sneezed and clap their hands.

These are some interesting beliefs about sneezing!

Smiling in America is a job requirement. Those who do not want or cannot smile often lose their jobs. You need to follow the rule: try not to pay attention to adversity, and do not expose your bad mood and worries to people; they should not be visible on your face.

A smile adorns everyone without exception. A real smile comes from the heart, but an insincere one will become immediately noticeable, turning the smile on your face into an unpleasant grimace.

As for laughter, it will decorate you only when you laugh culturedly. Laughter can very easily become vulgar and unpleasant to others. Try to laugh cheerfully and naturally, but respecting decorum.

Posture, gait

Don't shuffle, don't shuffle your feet on the asphalt, don't wave your arms like a windmill. The gait is light and springy; the legs should move, not the hips and arms. Hands move in rhythm with steps, but not like soldiers

Don’t pull your head into your shoulders, don’t lift it high up, but keep it straight. If you want to express your positive or negative attitude towards something, say “yes” or “no” rather than shaking your head as hard as you can from side to side or up and down.

How to sit

You need to sit up straight. Everything else refers to the word “impossible”: you cannot fidget in your chair, you cannot slouch, you cannot slide to the edge of the chair and clasp your hands on your knees, or sway in the chair.

People who sit with their legs spread wide and resting their palms on their knees look very ugly - this position is only suitable for rude and uncouth louts.

Remember how members of the British royal family sit in photographs, that’s who you should learn from. On modern armchairs and sofas, where you almost lie down, you can sit with your legs stretched slightly forward.

Where to put your hands?

Many people do not know where to put their hands in a given situation. There is no need to put them anywhere, let them lie quietly - on your knees or hanging freely on the sides (but not limply, like overcooked pasta).

There is no need to constantly touch your head or clothes with your hands, fiddle with your tie or twirl your keys on your hand. You should also not look at your nails, drum your fingers on the table and nudge your neighbor, daring him to say something stunning.

If you are talking while standing, do not put your hands on your hips when you are about to enter into a verbal spat with your girlfriend or boyfriend, and do not cross your arms over your chest when you are trying to explain some common truths of which you are convinced. Yes, and don't shout when talking. Some teenagers squeal so much that their ears become blocked. Is not The best way attract attention.

I hope you don’t need to repeat that pointing a finger is indecent.

And further. Some people like to publicly remove threads and hair from the clothes of their friends. This is extremely impolite. This action can only be performed in private and with the permission of this friend.

Is it necessary to say “Be healthy!”

Cough, yawn, sneeze and blow your nose silently and unnoticed, holding a handkerchief to your nose or mouth or covering yourself with your hand. In this case, you need to turn away from the interlocutor to the side or lean down.

We often hear: when a person sneezes, they say to him: “Be healthy!” And this is a mistake. After all, modern etiquette recommends not publicizing an act that another person would like to leave unnoticed. So, ignore the sneezing of the person present. The person who sneezed must say: “Sorry.”

Greetings

When you greet your friends and strangers, try to look at them directly, and not look away bashfully, as if you are to blame for something. Be welcoming and friendly, not only with your friends, but also with your friends’ friends and your friends’ friends. You can be more reserved with people you don’t know well, but you shouldn’t frighten them with a sullen glance from under your brows. Accompany your greeting with a smooth bow of the head, and not the entire body - once upon a time only peasant women bowed in front of the master.

A polite person will never forget to say “hello” first; Accompany any request with the words “please”, “please”, etc.; Thank you for any attention and service rendered to him and respond in kind. If he himself accidentally disturbs or causes inconvenience to someone, he will definitely say “sorry, please.”

If you can still say to your friends: “Great!” or “Hello!”, then in relation to unfamiliar people, older people, this is unacceptable. You need to say: “Hello!” or, depending on the time of day: “ Good morning/day/evening!” Here the question immediately arises: when is evening considered evening? Here is the schedule: Until 12 o'clock - Good morning! From 12 to 18 o'clock - Good afternoon! From 18 to 24 hours - Good evening! From 24 to 6 o'clock - Good night!

Your greeting should not be noisy. This means that you don’t have to throw yourself on your friend’s neck in the middle of the street, or wave your hand to a friend you notice on the opposite side of the street and shout: “Hello!!!”

Now about who says hello first. Of course, the one who is polite. Although there are rules here too. According to generally accepted rules, the first to greet is:

Man woman;

Junior Senior;

Subordinate of the boss.

The following situations are an exception: a young woman or girl can be the first to say hello to an older gentleman. The person who entered the room is always the first to greet, and the walking person is the first to greet the standing person. All these rules apply to the woman entering and walking.

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In Russia, two forms of address are used: “you” and “you”. In England there is only one form; in Sweden and Poland it is considered not polite enough to address strangers, especially elders or superiors, with “you”; for this, the third person form is used, for example: “Can I see the lady out?” etc.

If we are talking about a third person, then it is not customary to use only a pronoun. For example, not “He knows,” but “Ivan Petrovich knows,” or between peers — “Vanya knows.”

A child should be required to be polite in conversation from a very early age. Not only about strangers, but also about parents and relatives, even if it is a sister or brother, one should not be allowed to say “he”, “she”:

“Mom asked me to tell you” (not “she said”). Try to call those present not the faceless “he” and “she,” but call them by name.

The form of address “you” speaks of a closer relationship with a person. Those who, in the heat of a quarrel, switch from “you” to “you”, thus trying to humiliate the enemy, only demonstrate their lack of self-control and bad manners.

Many people believe that to switch to “you” it is not enough to be acquaintances, you need closer friendship and cordiality. The basic rule here is this: a senior can suggest a change to “you” to a junior, and a boss can suggest a subordinate. This rule is conditional between a man and a woman. Allowing people to say “you” is a woman’s right. You need to be quite careful with an offer to switch to “you”, because refusal can cause a feeling of awkwardness, especially for the one who makes this offer.

A young man can ask his close elders to call him “you.” At the same time, he himself continues to say “you” to them. And one more thing: some, if they are higher in position, have a manner of calling everyone who is lower in rank by “you,” although the latter call them by “you.” Such bosses are tactless.

As everyone knows, a person who sneezed, if it happened to him in public, feels slightly uncomfortable. Logically, those around them should not notice this, so as not to cause even more inconvenience to the person who sneezed, but in spite of this, they energetically begin to wish him health, saying “be healthy!” This looks especially strange during mass colds, when every third person sneezes heavily, and does so much more often than usual. And the answer to this riddle can be found in historical background.

The first prerequisite is established home traditions. After all, it is in the family, at home, that from childhood we are accustomed to hearing “be healthy” and are sure to the depths of our souls that this is the norm of polite behavior. This, of course, is not such a terrible habit, but since it sits deep in our subconscious, it is almost impossible to get rid of it. At one time, your parents wished you health when you sneezed and did not think that you needed it not only when you sneezed, but almost constantly. But there’s nothing you can do about it, family traditions are almost like second nature, and it’s impossible to change them so easily.

Second premise. The tradition of wishing health to someone who sneezes came to us from the times of paganism, namely from ancient superstitions, somewhere even from fairy tales. Since ancient times, sneezing has been associated with some sign or vital event. Since pagan times, these signs have been associated with prophecy of any events, natural phenomena, natural disasters or prediction of someone's fate.

For example, a certain Ivan asks the sorcerer how long he has left to live in this world, to which he answers, 85 years. And at the same time, the cat sitting next to him suddenly sneezes. Vanya immediately rejoiced, taking Barsik’s sneezing as confirmation of the predicted date. This is the essence of superstitions. Any person always tries to find some confirmation of his personal assumptions. By the way, these assumptions often come true, which once again confirms that optimism and a positive attitude are very, very useful in our lives.

Third premise. Even in ancient times, sneezing was considered a manifestation of dangerous and even fatal diseases, for example, the African plague. But already in the Middle Ages they wished “God help” anyone who sneezed. But still, due to the superstitious fear of epidemics, mass pestilence, and various disasters, the fact of sneezing was considered a certain danger, for example, one could become infected.

If you look at it from a medical point of view, it is very logical to wish health to someone who has sneezed; no one wants to get sick, that’s why they wish health. Even today, with a high level of development in the field of healthcare, getting sick for a person is a serious test, it means loss of ability to work and poor health, and what can we say about ancient times, when illness often meant only death.

As popular wisdom says, money cannot pay for health. However, money in the modern world can seriously help improve your health. Modern medicine today explains sneezing attacks only by physiological and biological mechanisms. She blames sneezing solely on viruses, allergic reactions or ill health nervous system. Representatives of alternative medicine are sure that sneezing is a natural reaction that helps a person cope with an illness, which may also well be the case.

It is no secret that a person who sneezes in public feels a certain awkwardness. It would be time for those around you not to notice this, to treat the embarrassment that has occurred naturally and calmly, but for some reason it is customary to zealously wish health to the person who sneezed. Such wishes seem especially paradoxical during periods of viral infections, when every second person sneezes, and more often than usual. The key to unraveling such behavioral stereotypes lies in historical background.

Firstly, in most cases, the habit takes root in the family. After all, it is at home that a child hears “Be healthy” from childhood, on a subconscious level perceiving this as the norm of polite behavior established in society. It may not be the worst habit, but it is quite difficult to get rid of. Parents are sometimes unaware that it is worth being healthy at all times, and not just when you have a sneeze. But what can you do, because you can’t just ignore family traditions.

Secondly, the custom of wishing health when sneezing came from pagan superstitions and even folk tales. People have always associated the manifestation of a sneeze with certain life events and saw some signs in this act. More more people wondered: why does sneezing occur? As A.P. correctly noted. Chekhov: “...Everyone sneezes,” that is, both the common people and “...sometimes even the secret advisers.” So, since pagan times, sneezing has been firmly associated with predictions of fate or natural phenomena, signs or even natural disasters. For example, Afonya asks the witch how many years he will live, to which she replies that ninety. At this moment the cat sneezes. Afonya was delighted, interpreting the cat’s sneeze as confirmation of the prediction. This is the whole essence of superstition. The fact is that a person seeks confirmation of his subjective forecasts in everything. By the way, quite often predictions come true, which once again proves that a positive attitude and faith in miracles help in life.

Thirdly, sneezing was perceived in ancient times as a manifestation of dangerous and even fatal diseases, for example: the Athenian plague. True, in the Middle Ages they said to someone who sneezed: “God help you.” And, nevertheless, a sneeze was a signal to others about the danger of infection. People were afraid of all kinds of pestilences, epidemics, and mass disasters. From a medical point of view, the justification for health wishes looks most convincing. It’s clear that people don’t want to get sick, so they want health. Even in modern society illness deprives a person of his ability to work and is a serious test for the whole family, and in ancient times, even more so, illness meant only one thing - trouble.

It’s not without reason that people say that money can’t buy health. True, today one can argue with this statement. Of course, you can’t buy it, but you can only fix it with money. Today, official medicine sees only physiology and biology in sneezes: the effects of viruses, allergic reactions, diseases of the nervous system. Traditional healers do not rule out that sneezing helps drive away diseases. Who knows, perhaps there is some truth in this statement.

20.10.2016 14:01 1234

Why do we say “Be healthy!”

But is it true, why when a person sneezes, we say “Be healthy!” without hesitation, but do not react when, for example, he coughs?

This habit in most cases comes from our family, from our parents. For example, your dad and mom say “bless you” to you when you sneeze and you take an example from them, considering this phrase to be common politeness. After all, wishing a person health means wishing him well.

Once upon a time, such a wish for a sneezing person had slightly different reasons. People were simply afraid of various diseases, and therefore if someone nearby sneezed, they wished that person good health so that his illness could not pass on to them.

IN different countries There are many traditions associated with sneezing. For example, in England, if a person sneezed, they will say “God bless you!” bow towards the one who sneezed.

This is such an interesting tradition.