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The Official Turkish Sneezing Guide
When cold and flu season came around while I was growing up in the States, if a friend/family member sneezed, it was traditional for bystanders to say Bless you! or God Bless you! or Gesundheit!. (The latter being used more frequently by German relatives on my mother's side.) If a friend/family member sneezed multiple times, we just kept repeating Bless you! or Gesundheit! And, about the only reply the sneezer might utter was a watery-eyed 'Thank you.'
Where Peri was growing up in Turkey there was quite a different tradition for the same sneezing scenario when the cold and flu season struck. If someone sneezed in Peri's household, the most usual response was Çok yaşa! (Long may you live! or To your long life!)
And the sneezer would traditionally reply Sen de gör (May you see long life too).
But, for multiple sneezes (up to 3), sneezing etiquette at Peri's house became more elaborate -- and it remains pretty much the same today.
First sneeze:
Bystander says Çok Yaşa! (Long Life!).
Sneezer says Sen de gör (You too).
Second sneeze:
Bystander says Bin Yaşa! (1,000 Long Lives!).
Sneezer says Sen de gör or
Hep beraber (Let it be true for both/all of us).
Third sneeze:
Bystander says On Bin Yaşa! (10,000 Long Lives!).
Sneezer says Sen de gör
or Hep beraber.
If you stick with the above, you'll be fine when it comes to your own sneezing etiquette in Turkey. But to keep you on your toes (and complicate matters a little further)... the following is also considered good Turkish sneezing etiquette...
First sneeze:
Bystander says Çok Yaşa!
Sneezer says Sen de gör.
Second sneeze:
Bystander says Güzel Yaşa! (May you live to a beautiful age!).
Sneezer says Sen de Gor.
Third sneeze:
Bystander says Uzun Yaşa! (Long Life!) and/or
Torun okşa (May you caress many grandchildren).
Sneezer says Hep Beraber.
Why 'God Bless You' in Turkish isn't used for sneezing situations...
In the first place, there's no universally agreed translation for 'God Bless You' in Turkish. In the second place, about the closest you can get to that meaning is the phrase Allah senden razı olsun (May you and God be as one). But that colloquial phrase is already reserved for the purpose of saying 'Thank you' (for a favor or good deed) -- and would be quite inappropriate if used for a sneezing event due to cold, flu, or allergy -- or for an ordinary nose tickle.
Comments
Posted by Fasthorse February 19, 2007
A man and a woman were sitting beside each other
in the first class section of an airplane. The woman sneezed, took out
a tissue, gently wiped her nose, then visibly shuddered for ten to
fifteen seconds. The man went back to his reading. A few minutes later, the woman sneezed again, took a tissue, wiped her nose, then shuddered violently
once more. Assuming that the woman might have a cold, the man was
still curious about the shuddering. A few more minutes passed when the
woman sneezed yet again. As before she took a tissue, wiped her nose,
her body shaking even more than before. Unable to restrain his
curiosity, the man turned to the woman and said, "I couldn't help but
notice that you've sneezed three times, wiped your nose and then
shuddered violently. Are you ok?" "I am sorry if I disturbed you, I have a very rare medical condition; whenever I sneeze I have an orgasm." The man, more than a bit embarrassed, was still curious. "I have never
heard of that condition before" he said. "Are you taking anything for
it?" The woman nodded, "Yes..... Pepper."
Posted by Prof. David Katz at Koç University November 4, 2006
Great page! And very handy....Just as I was reading it, people here at
the Center started sneezing, and I was able to put all parts of the
page into practice!
In Turkey - Türkiye'de
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