Like how we all face the door in an elevator or feel the need to say ‘ope’ when we almost bump into someone. What’s a silent rule of society that you find hilarious or totally unnecessary?
Like how we all face the door in an elevator or feel the need to say ‘ope’ when we almost bump into someone. What’s a silent rule of society that you find hilarious or totally unnecessary?
I like the tradition of “bless you!” when someone sneezes, but it is surely not necessary. And why do we say that for sneezing but not coughing?
In the team I work with, we’ve established saying “Shut up!” if someone sneezes instead.
The proper response for coughing is “Die quietly”.
Hahahahaha
I hate this tradition fiercely and I’m glad to have moved to a place where sneezes are generally ignored. As they should be.
UK tends to ignore them more, but they’re slowly adopting the North American culture.
It’s so weird how you can sneeze a million times and people will treat you like the panda meme, but a few coughs in the row and suddenly this quiet blanket of dread falls over the room like “Are they dying? Should we call the CDC?” 😂
A sneeze was a demon leaving your body - apparently. Way back in the day.
I was at the urinal the other day and sneezed; someone said bless you from a stall.
It was awkward. Breaking one social norm to uphold another.
Sneezing at a urinal must be terrible lmaoooo
You can restore the social contract by putting your hand under the stall for a firm handshake. If he consents, you get a firm handshake and relief that the social contract is restored. If he refuses, then you have to deal with the shame and heartache.
If he doesn’t take the handshake the only appropriate thing to do is to wait outside the bathroom, follow him to the parking lot and then follow him home. Once you learn his address, you can start learning his routines and the routines of his family. There are many options at this point, but the one I recommend is applying for a job where he works. The next step could take a long time, potentially years. Work your way up the ladder. Take night classes to fit the roles you’re applying for internally, and dedicate yourself to the job. Delay finding “the one” and starting a family like you’ve always dreamed of. Nothing matters but the job. Bide your time and when you finally are promoted to this man’s boss, on your first day, offer a handshake. Of course, he won’t deny you. Relish this moment. Feel the warmth of his hand I yours. Smile and say “was it really that hard?” When he gives you a quizzical look, laugh it off like it was a joke. You want to call it there, but you’re in too deep. You’re making nearly 300k a year in salary and commissions and you have a clear shot at EVP if you play your cards right. Your lifestyle has changed and you have an expensive mortgage, a boat payment for a yacht you don’t have time to take out, and a number of women half your age that you spend what little free time you have with wining and dining. They have expensive tastes. You tried coke recently and you really like it. It makes your job so much easier because you need to be “on” all the time and you haven’t been sleeping well, but you’ve discovered that if you do just exactly the right amount, you can perform at peak. You have it totally figured out.
I say gesundheit as I’m not religious and don’t like to propagate religious sentiment, but I like the idea, too. I’m not German.
In Russian, it is “be healthy!” (будь здоров!), much to the same tune
My favorite thing about Russian is that most things translated to English sound so rude out of context, haha
Most of the speech sounds like aggressive dictation “Come over”, “Sit down”, which is such a stark contrast to the English manner of speech: “Do you think it might be possible if it doesn’t terribly trouble you to pass the salt?”
I also learned a little while ago that apparently this manner of speech is also seen as somewhat offensive in parts of Scandinavia because it’s seen as passive aggressive lol
It depends regionally and contextually, quite some Russians are quite hyper-polite in their own right, which in turn is a laughing matter for the others.
I mean, if you would be so kind to accept another possibility, that is. I don’t insist!
I say “pineapple”, because unlike God, pineapples are real. Also it confuses people.
Pineapples want to digest me though
On the scale of malignancy, I’d say the pineapple’s desire to digest us is pretty tame compared to the attitude of most gods. At least it’s tasty while it does so.
You are sooo good looking.
And honestly? Pineapples are pretty delicious.
Religious idioms are everywhere in language, and it is seriously not a problem. We can talk about a storm of “biblical” proportions, or say hubris is inviting god’s wrath, or whatever, and none of it is condoning any actual religious belief. Plenty of people celebrate Christmas because they like family and togetherness and indulgent consumerism, even if they don’t consider themselves Christian. And like, one of my favorite explitives is Jesus Fucking Christ.
Just saying gesundheit is, like, fine. But your explaination reminds me of the people who tried to make latinx a thing. Heavy eyeroll
Hispanic non binary people around me have referred to themselves as Latin (la-teen)
Is that also cringe?
No, that makes sense since it is actually pronounceable, and has been created organically by people who are actually experiencing a problem, instead of 14 year olds on Tumblr
I think it’s appropriate to use the phrasing people use for themselves.
Salud is good too
I say gelassenheit as I’m not superstitious and don’t like to propagate superstitious sentiment. I’m also not German.
Funnily enough, it is not universally agreed on in German to say “Gesundheit”.
Many don’t do it any more (me included), because it is a comment on an uncontrolled body function and thus pretty intrusive.
Exception to this may be people who are really close to you.
Regardless of which phrase is being said, I think it’s nice that we have a little rituals here and there.
A sneeze is often loud, sudden, startling and disruptive, so having a standard word or short phrase can ease us back into normal conversation mode without derailing the preceeding conversation (like actually asking if someone is okay could take us too far from the original topic). A quiet sneeze recuires no easing out of.
If I do a loud sneeze and no one says any variant of gesuntheit, I feel compelled to mildly apologise (pardon/excuse me) before carrying on, so one party does the little ritual to bridge between violent sound and normal speaking either way. Can be nice to “bless” the sneezer so they dont have to apologise for disrupting.
Say Schönheit instead and be as witty as a real German.
I also say it when someone farts.
I’m not religious and just ignore people that say bless you. It’s entirely disingenuous anyway. No one is aware of what they’re saying, let alone means it. It’s just a thing for them to feel good and nothing to do with the sneezer.
Who hurt you lol
I think when you haven’t grown up in a culture that says it, it’s weird. If you’ve grown up in a Christian-based country/society and are quite the traditionalist, you probably think it’s normal.
They don’t do that in Vietnam, and I find it odd
I have a friend who says ‘coughs you’ lol