(no subject)

[battersby.livejournal.com]

What is the best way to say "Bless you" or "God bless you," after someone sneezes?

Comments

[shalapanova.livejournal.com]

"Будь здоров(а)"

[dair-spb.livejournal.com]

or, for more respectable people, "будьте здоровы" :-)

[battersby.livejournal.com]

so this is more formal/polite

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

There's that ты/вы difference, which is quite alien for English speakers. The default way to address to somebody (yet) unacquainted, especially in formal situations(business, work, service etc.,) is "вы", while the informal, friends-to-friends-mode, familiar - "ты". Therefore "будь здоров! (to a male person) / будь здорова! (to a female person)" is informal and familiar, while "будьте здоровы!" is indeed more formal.

[battersby.livejournal.com]

From studying French, I'm used to the idea of informal and formal "you." I was just making sure.

[dair-spb.livejournal.com]

well...
there are people who used to be reffered as "вы" (like plural) - teachers/professors, not well-known (and not known) people and so on. Usually not applied to kids.

I use this as a form of respect to unknown people - business meetings, for instance.
friends and coworkers are "ты".

Really hard to explain when to use what, you know :-)

for "вы"-person you should use plural form - "будьте здоровы" despite of sneezer's gender :-)

I hope it explains alittle ;-)

[shalapanova.livejournal.com]

Moreover, sometimes I say "Вы" to my husband just in ironic mean.

[night-sun-dial.livejournal.com]

It depens on context. Difference could be significant.

[battersby.livejournal.com]

well, I thought about exact translation, but I doubt if that would sound "normal" to a native Russian speaker.

[night-sun-dial.livejournal.com]

Exact translation is "Помилуй тебя Бог!"

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Nope. "Благослови тебя Бог".

[shalapanova.livejournal.com]

"Bless" seems to be near to "Благословлять" and not "миловать", AFAIK.
So, my opinion is "Благослови Вас(тебя) Бог".
Sometimes this phrase is used for thanking for a really great favour.

[night-sun-dial.livejournal.com]

What is why I say it depends on... Modern russians don't understand religious words... :o) http://www.rambler.ru/dict/enru/00/30/d9.shtml

[shalapanova.livejournal.com]

Forth meaning... Not very common...

If one says me "Помилуй тебя Бог", it sounds like a warning, IMHO.

[xnrrn.livejournal.com]

I did. Translated back to the english it something like: "May you have the god's favour", right?

*goes check the link now*

[oryx_and_crake]

I assure you, modern Russians do understand religious words very well. If a dictionary gives "Господи помилуй!" for "Bless my soul", it does not mean that "bless" means миловать.

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

Modern Russians do understand "religious words" all right.
BTW why would you give the meaning #5 from the dictionary if there's the meaning #1 (благословить)?

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Could you please decypher AFAIK? (is it something like IMHO - in my humble opinion?)

[shalapanova.livejournal.com]

AFAIK == As Far As I Know.
It is near to IMHO, but...

[kehlen-crow.livejournal.com]

Thank you :)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

The exact translation just doesn't work in this case. Maybe Russians jsut wish somebody a God's blessing on more serious cases than just sneezing :))

[battersby.livejournal.com]

tehehe. Like we had said in a previous post, exact translations usually doesn't sound correct. I tend to just say "bless you," but yeah, wishing God's blessing for a bodily function is a bit odd.

[xnrrn.livejournal.com]

I think it has some early christian/pagan roots.

Like people covering their mouth when yawning, and then crossing their mouth. (So that evil spirits do not enter their body through their mouth).

I suspect the origins of "God bless you" for sneezing are the same-ish.

[aegeek.livejournal.com]

Будь здоров, расти большой!:)

[wolk-off.livejournal.com]

This one is very informal and normally applies to kids (if it's an adult who's speaking.)

[http://users.livejournal.com/_teemon_/]

Будь здоров, не кашляй.