Short for God bless you , from Middle English God blesse you , God blisse you .
bless you !
Short for (may) God bless you : said as a short prayer for the recipient.
( idiomatic ) Said to someone who has just sneezed , as a polite remark.
Synonym: gesundheit
( idiomatic , humorous ) Used to express non-understanding of someone who has just used an unusual or foreign word or phrase (as if to imply that it sounds like a sneeze).
2000 July 8, J. K. Rowling [pseudonym; Joanne Rowling], “The Goblet of Fire”, in Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire (Harry Potter ; 4), London: Bloomsbury Publishing , →ISBN , page 221 :‘What’s that?’ said Ron, pointing at a large dish of some sort of shellfish stew that stood beside a large steak-and-kidney pudding. ‘Bouillabaisse,’ said Hermione. ‘Bless you ,’ said Ron. ‘It’s French,’ said Hermione. ‘I had it on holiday, summer before last, it’s very nice.’
Saying bless you after a sneeze is not considered particularly religious. The remark is used by and toward those who belong to a religion as well as those who do not.
said to somebody who has sneezed
Albanian: shëndet (sq)
Arabic: صِحَّة (ar) ( ṣiḥḥa ) ( health ) , اَلْحَمْدُ لِلّٰه ( al-ḥamdu li-llāh ) ( praise God ) , يَرْحَمْكُم اللّٰه ( yarḥamkum allāh ) ( (may) Allah have mercy on you ) , يَرْحَمْكُم ( yarḥamkum ) ( mercy on you )
Armenian: առողջություն (hy) ( aṙoġǰutʻyun )
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic: ܒܪ̈ܲܚܡܹܐ ( b-raḥmē )
Asturian: santinos
Azerbaijani: sağlam ol
Bulgarian: наздра́ве (bg) ( nazdráve )
Catalan: salut (ca) , múse
Chinese:
Mandarin: ( uncommon ) 一百歲 / 一百岁 ( yībǎi suì ) ( (live up to) 100 years )
Czech: na zdraví (cs)
Danish: prosit (da)
Dutch: gezondheid (nl) ( formal ) , gesundheit (de) , proost (nl) ( informal )
Esperanto: sanon (eo)
Estonian: terviseks
Faroese: Gud signi teg , Jesus signi teg , Jesuspápi signi teg
Finnish: terveydeksi (fi)
French: à vos souhaits (fr) ( formal ) , à tes souhaits (fr) ( informal ) , à vos amours , à tes amours (fr) ( after a second sneeze )
Galician: saúde! (gl)
Georgian: ჯანმრთელობა ( ǯanmrteloba )
German: Gesundheit (de) ( normal ) ; hatschi (de) ( informal ) ; prost (de) ( very informal ) ; Helfgott ( Austria )
Greek: υγείες (el) ( ygeíes ) , γείτσες (el) ( geítses )
Hebrew: לַבְּרִיאוּת (he) ( labri'út ) , לִבְרִיאוּת (he) ( livri'út ) , אָסוּתָא (he) f ( asúta ) ( formal, dated )
Hindi: हरी ॐ ( harī om )
Hungarian: egészségedre (hu)
Hunsrik: Gesundheet , Gesundheit
Icelandic: guð hjálpi þér , hjálpi þér , Guð blessi þig , blessi þig
Ingrian: oo terve
Irish: Dia linn! , deiseal!
Italian: salute! (it)
Japanese: ( uncommon ) お大事に (ja) ( おだいじに, o-daiji ni ) ( take care )
Kalmyk: бурхнаш ( burxnaş ) , бурхн арш ( burxn arş )
Khmer: អាយុវែង ( ’aayu’ vɛɛng )
Korean: not used in Korean
Kurdish:
Northern Kurdish: xêr be înşele
Kyrgyz: Акчуч ( Akcuc ) , ак чүч ( ak cüc )
Lao: ພຸດໂທ ( phut thō ) , ທັມໂມ ( tham mō ) , ສົງໂຄ ( song khō )
Latin: absit omen , salūtā
Latvian: uz veselībām
Lithuanian: į sveikatą
Luxembourgish: Gesondheet
Macedonian: на здравје ( na zdravje )
Malagasy: velona (mg)
Maltese: evviva
Nepali: चिरन्जिभी ( ciranjibhī )
Ngazidja Comorian: âfia
Norwegian: prosit
Persian: عافیت باشه ( 'âfiyat bâše ) , الحمد للّٰه ( al-hamdo le-llâh )
Polish: na zdrowie (pl)
Portuguese: saúde! (pt) ( Brazilian ) , santinho! (pt) ( European ) , viva (pt) , Deus te crie
Romanian: sănătate! (ro) , noroc (ro) , chef (ro)
Russian: будь здоро́в (ru) m ( budʹ zdoróv ) ( informal ) , будь здоро́ва f ( budʹ zdoróva ) ( informal ) , бу́дьте здоро́вы (ru) pl ( búdʹte zdoróvy ) ( formal and plural )
Rwanda-Rundi: kira
Scottish Gaelic: Dia leat!
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: на здравље , наздравље
Roman: na zdravlje , nazdravlje
Sicilian: gisuzzu , saluti!
Slovak: na zdravie
Slovene: na zdravje
Spanish: ¡Jesús! (es) ( Spain ) , ¡salud! (es) ( Latin America ) , ¡santinos! ( Northern Spain, specifically Asturias )
Swahili: afya (sw)
Swedish: prosit (sv) , väl bekomme (sv)
Tày: cơm muối
Telugu: చిరంజీవ ( cirañjīva )
Thai: พุทโธ , ธรรโม , สงโฆ
Turkish: çok yaşa (tr) ( singular, informal ) , çok yaşayın ( plural, formal ) , yerhamükellah
Ukrainian: будьте здорові (uk) ( budʹte zdorovi )
Urdu: الحمد للّٰہ ( al-hamdu li-llāh ) , یرحمک اللہ ( yarhamak-allāh ) , سلامت باشد ( salāmat-bāśad ) , سلامت باشید ( salāmat-bāśed )
Uzbek: sog-buling
Vietnamese: cơm muối
Welsh: bendithiwch chi , Bendith Duw di
Yiddish: זײַ געזונט ( zay gezunt ) , צו געזונט ( tsu gezunt )
Yoruba: pẹ̀lẹ́