"Bless You!"

by kaykay_mp 26 Replies latest jw friends

• 

  heart2heart

  "Bless you" has always been a big no-no for Witnesses anywhere I've been, as well as "Good Luck". This past year though, one brother during a talk said that it was ok to say "Good Luck" because now it simply means that you wish the person well, you want them to succeed, etc. - nothing superstitious at all.... so why can't you say "bless you" then, since people today do not say it with superstitious intentions? "oh my God" is definetly something you don't usually hear JWs say - except for one brother who yelled it out at the beginning of his talk! (it was supposed to be coming from someone else, like he was telling a story). The whole auditorium went quiet - I think everyone was shocked! Needless to say, it didn't go over very well.

  2
• 

  ozziepost

  The origins of the expression "Bless you" are back in the middle ages and have to do with sneezing being the first sign of the plague. The WTS conveniently omits to refer to this when condemning its utterence. Instead we hear of its roots in superstition when, in fact, it has nothing of the sort.
• 

  kaykay_mp

  I'd like to see that lady pop her eyeballs . . .is she still around?

  Found it!!!

  ..."World's Furthest Eyeball Popper"

  laters

  kaykay_mp
• 

  MungoBaobab

  I dunno, Ozzie, the "sneezing out your soul" explanation is fairly well-documented. I tend to say "gesudheit" myself, it means "good health" in German. Nothing superstitious about that. I could never comprehend exactly what a "blessing" was supposed to be, anyway.

  As far as tabboo idioms, when I was eight or ten I was forced to play with a JW boy from the hall. Every time I used the expression "I bet," as in "I bet if we climb that tree we can find a bird's nest," he'd interrupt me.

  "Jehovah's Witnesses don't bet."
• 

  ozziepost

  MungoBaobab:

  I dunno, Ozzie, the "sneezing out your soul" explanation is fairly well-documented. I tend to say "gesudheit" myself, it means "good health" in German. Nothing superstitious about that. I could never comprehend exactly what a "blessing" was supposed to be, anyway.

  Please re-read my comment:

  Instead we hear of its roots in superstition when, in fact, it has nothing of the sort.

  Cheers, ozzie
• 

  Country_Woman

  "Bless you" when sneezing has never been a point here: we are saying "gezondheid" (which is the same as Ozzie's German "Gesundheid"

  What always amazed me was that JW's (nearly every single one) are giving each and every one "Jehovah's zegen" (which is Jehovah's Blessing) occasional.

  Since when are humans supposed to give this blessing ?
• 

  ozziepost

  JW's (nearly every single one) are giving each and every one "Jehovah's zegen" (which is Jehovah's Blessing

  Really?? That's interesting CW. Downunder we (ie the dubs) don't call on any blessings at all. Must be part of being upside down, eh?

  Cheers, Ozzie