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God bless you! what is your reply?

arg-fallbackName="Inferno"/>
I say "thank you". Who cares? It's just a saying, it doesn't necessarily mean anything. There's a lot of western culture coming from the bible/christianity (old as Methusaleh, in the lions den, etc.) and the above doesn't really offend me.
If it's clearly hostile though, I might reply along the lines of "and the Flying Spaghetti Monster bless you too".
 
arg-fallbackName="the_morbidus"/>
I'm with Inferno, but if you are feeling extra nice that day you might want to go with " And I'll sacrifice a goat for you to."
 
arg-fallbackName="nasher168"/>
I rarely if ever come across it outside the context of sneezing in real life. In which case, I just accept it and don't discuss it at all.

Online, however, I'm usually only blessed if I've just said something the other person disagrees with. It's usually said as a way to take the moral high ground by demonstrating how caring they are even though I'm a godless, baby-raping heathen. In which case I (depending on my mood) either ignore it and address the real issue; counter it by coaxing them into coming off their pedestal and hurling insults at me whilst remaining calm myself; or request less-than-politely that they keep their blessings to themselves.
 
arg-fallbackName="Anachronous Rex"/>
I very much doubt that most people put too much thought into "god bless you" before saying it. Just like when I say "god damn it!" I'm expressing frustration or anger, and not actually invoking a supernatural deity to condemn whatever it is to an eternity of torment. When I say, "god knows," I mean to say that I think nobody knows.

Just accept it in the spirit in which it was offered. If you suspect a backhanded insult in their conduct, just reply with a polite, "Cthulhu fhtagn."
 
arg-fallbackName="australopithecus"/>
Doesn't bother me at all. In fact if my other half or any friends sneeze I say it. Obviously I drop the 'god' bit, but whatever. It's just a saying.
 
arg-fallbackName="CosmicJoghurt"/>
I accept it and throw in a "IPU bless you" when someone else sneezes. It is, however, quite disturbing to Pastafarians, I've noticed.
 
arg-fallbackName="Memeticemetic"/>
Most contexts in which I hear a "God bless you" are too benign and well-intentioned to elicit anything more than a simple, "Thank you" from me. In the sneezing scenario, I knee-jerk a "bless you" every time and I give it no thought or significance beyond that.
 
arg-fallbackName="kenandkids"/>
I think that I can count on one hand the number of times I've heard "god bless you" after sneezing. I've travelled extensively around America and nearly everywhere people just say "bless you" now. It could be due to the fact that good christians rarely pick up or help hitch hikers, or due to the fact that most of my life has been spent on the west coast, I just nearly never hear people add god to it.
 
arg-fallbackName="Prolescum"/>
I like to beatbox at the zenith of a sneeze, so any pleasantries are displaced by sniggering or confusion. Not that I care about being blessed.
 
arg-fallbackName="JulieOfSuburbia"/>
Well, in Denmark we don't really have that problem. When someone sneezes, we reply with "Prosit!" which means something like "May it do you well". No mentioning of God :) I don't think anyone has ever said "Bless you" to me.
 
arg-fallbackName="Lallapalalable"/>
With inferno, because seriously, who cares? Most of us (I assume) are surrounded by religion(s) everyday and were most likely raised in a family practicing one or another, thus the commonplace phrases are ingrained in our verbal lexicon. I always do feel weird, because my paranoia tells me that based on my response they will realize I am an atheist and suddenly "turn" on me. So, I just say thank you while pretending that I may have another sneeze coming, as to deflect any vocal tones that would otherwise be saturated in disbelief. But that's me, quite paranoid and too obsessive to not worry about their response to my response to their response.

Also, for more religious phrases we cant help but using, please visit the innappropriately placed thread here :D
 
arg-fallbackName="Nemesiah"/>
"Thank you"

I'm an atheist, I seriulsy give God like 0.00...000...More Zeroes FTW!...000...001% chance of existence yet; "my God!"; "dear Lord!", "thank God!", "God willing!", etc... slips out once in a while, it is a matter of habbit, not of sumission to an imaginary figure.

Then again in spanish we say ",¡Salud!" which means ",¡Health!" so, it's not that big of a deal, of course we also say "Ojalà¡" which means roughly "hopefully" but strictly speking means "Alah willing", the muslim ocupoation of Spain was not unfelt by the language.

One of many words that don't come either from greek or latin.

I'd say chill and be polite.

Peace
 
arg-fallbackName="Hedley"/>
Nemesiah said:
"Thank you"

I'm an atheist, I seriulsy give God like 0.00...000...More Zeroes FTW!...000...001% chance of existence yet; "my God!"; "dear Lord!", "thank God!", "God willing!", etc... slips out once in a while, it is a matter of habbit, not of sumission to an imaginary figure.

Then again in spanish we say ",¡Salud!" which means ",¡Health!" so, it's not that big of a deal, of course we also say "Ojalà¡" which means roughly "hopefully" but strictly speking means "Alah willing", the muslim ocupoation of Spain was not unfelt by the language.

One of many words that don't come either from greek or latin.

I'd say chill and be polite.

Peace
Click to expand...
I also speak Spanish. Indeed, I was thinking in Spanish: and as you correctly stated we say "health" after sneeking for first time (as you know the second time is "money" and the third is "love"); however "god bless you" is also used by religious people who want to wish you blessing from their imaginary lord as a way of wish "good luck".

I didn,´t know the "ojalà¡" origins, but indeed it makes sense!

I really understand the good intentions of religious fellas, so I accept their blessings... However, I realize that they have ZERO effect in the development of the happenings!
 
arg-fallbackName="DepricatedZero"/>
Nemesiah said:
"Thank you"

I'm an atheist, I seriulsy give God like 0.00...000...More Zeroes FTW!...000...001% chance of existence yet; "my God!"; "dear Lord!", "thank God!", "God willing!", etc... slips out once in a while, it is a matter of habbit, not of sumission to an imaginary figure.

Then again in spanish we say ",¡Salud!" which means ",¡Health!" so, it's not that big of a deal, of course we also say "Ojalà¡" which means roughly "hopefully" but strictly speking means "Alah willing", the muslim ocupoation of Spain was not unfelt by the language.

One of many words that don't come either from greek or latin.

I'd say chill and be polite.

Peace
Click to expand...
Fucking shit! (my alternative to Holy shit)

Years ago when trying to determine the best way to politely respond to a sneeze without being too obscure or obviously avoiding the subject of gods, I adopted "Salute!" as one might toast. Since it's a toast to health, and is at least somewhat commonly known, I figured it would work. I've always been met positively for it.

I'm...surprised. Didn't know that was a thing, and the root is the same.

:shock:
 
arg-fallbackName="nemesiss"/>
this truely is an english/american issue.
here in holland when someone, they say "gezondheid" which literly translated means "health"
 
arg-fallbackName="kenandkids"/>
nemesiss said:
this truely is an english/american issue.
here in holland when someone, they say "gezondheid" which literly translated means "health"
Click to expand...

That's actually pretty common and accepted here too.
 
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