Polite?

I've noticed that whenever someone sneezes, Jon won't say bless you or say thank you whenever someone says bless you to his sneeze.

Is this normal british behavior?

It's really been bugging me, having been raised to ALWAYS say bless you and thank you. I did once ask him about it and he just shrugged and said "I dunno.".

Yes, Ashley, I've noticed that 'bless you' isn't done as much by British people.  Seems to be more of an American thing.

I agree and IT DRIVES ME INSANE...  My BF was not use to saying it as well BUT NOW.... I think he's gotten somewhat use to saying it and receiving it as well.  I don't know if it's an American thing or not never really thought about it.  It's just something as a child I learned from my parents that when someone sneezes you say "God Bless" and reply with a thank you.

I haven't noticed it so much with sneezing, but when my husband bumps into, or bumps his bag into someone on the street I have to practically turn around and apoligise for him!  In a country where 'I am sorry' is probably the most used phrase, I don't understand why a polite response is so hard to come by.  And it isn't like he is a rude person.  He gets on my case when I  don't greet the shop keepers when I go in to buy a paper!  

It's not that it's impolite, it's that it's not the custom here.  I think it can be surprizing the difference in culture and customs since there is a shared language.  I got out of the habit of saying 'Bless you' a few years after I moved here-mainly because of lack of response.  But once when my mom came to visit, sneezed, and was ignored she pretty much went bolistic.  This made me realize how rude my children seem when we visited the states, so I made a big thing about it and now EVERYBODY  in my house says 'bless you'.  It's just one more thing to remember when raising multi-cultural children.

I asked my BF about this.  He says, you should never say Thank You when someone says Bless you, because it takes away the blessing.  So I dont think they are being rude, its just a different custom.

My hubby never said Bless You...
now if he sneezes and I don't say Bless You he says plaintively... "bless me.... bless me.....!!!"

So I guess I've trained him well  
x

Funny thing happened yesterday.

I mentioned all this to Jon and he's promised to try to say bless you for now on.


He's so good to me.

I'd gotten out of the "bless you" habit and when my 14-year-old came for a visit and sneezed, he turned to me and instructed "say 'bless you'."

I'm head-scratching over the "Excuse me" bit. I'm trying to get past someone and I say "excuse me" and they apologize for being in my way. Sometimes it's even said sarcastically! I am sooo confused by this behaviour! What in the world did I do to offend?

Hey Lisa,
Someone (I think Glasgow girl)  talked about this in the 'things you wish you'd known'  topic.  Apparently you're implying that they're in the wrong or it's their fault or something.  This was news to me so I've been offending people left and right for the past 13 years.  Mua-ha-ha!  

I think it may be a regional thing, I was brought up in Scotland to say Bless You if someone sneezed and you would generally thank the blesser.
Possibly the fact that it is not used so much now is a result in the general deteriation in good manners.

When I spoke to Jon about this, he said it's very old fashioned and that's why no one does it anymore.  He's so cute, he's going to make an effort to say bless you now.

Brits are less religious than Americans -in general- so "Bless you" is a bit defunct.  Some people have taken to using the German "Gesundheit", but some are still just awkwardly silent as they don't want to refer to religion but don't have an alternative.

FYI (if you didn't already know) "Bless you" stems from the idea that when you sneeze you are momentarily unconscious and at that moment, demons can sneak into your being and need to be exorcized immediately)

Isn't that funny, I was taught that Bless you came from the days of the plague. When you sneezed, that generally meant you were sick and about to die, so everyone would say God Bless you.

On the same note, I learned that my favourite childhood chant "Ring around the rosie" is about the plague too.

Pretty morbid.

Another thought that came to me. I never say God bless or really pronounce bless you out... it sounds more like blehsh you.

I'd say gesundheit but I can't really pronounce it and I'm stealing the spelling from your post.  

Hope you spelled it right, otherwise we both look silly.