How did "gesundheit" work its way into common American usage?
Aug 25, 2011 · From Wikipedia: In German, Gesundheit ( [to your] "Health") is said after a sneeze. This is sometimes used in the United States. The expression arrived in America with early German …
Looking for the "God Bless You" of Hiccups
Mar 3, 2025 · FWIW :-) Saint Walburga, a Benedictine nun and healer in the 8th century, is the patron saint of coughing, and a hiccup is (at least etymologically) a kind of cough. So perhaps you could …
What are alternative responses for when someone sneezes?
Jun 24, 2011 · Both the German gesundheit and the Yiddish zay gezunt (phonetical English transliteration; in Yiddish it would be rendered "זײַ געזונט") have made significant inroads into English. …
Where did the phrase "scat old cat" come from? [duplicate]
Although this word is facing fierce competition from the German Gesundheit, DARE reports from its many interviews that scat's meaning of "begone" is frequently used in the South from Florida to …
politeness - "God bless you" equivalent for fart? - English Language ...
"God bless you" "Gesundheit" And others. But with a fart you laugh, deride or come up with something clever to say on the spot. Is there a commonly known polite word or phrase that says "I acknowledge …
Origin of "doomscrolling" - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
Sep 4, 2025 · When and where did this extraordinarily evocative word doomscrolling evolve? It seems to mean "The compulsive act of scrolling through endless streams of bad news, often late at …
The origin of slang GOAT (in a field) for the "greatest of all time"
Sep 22, 2022 · GOAT as an acronym for " (the) greatest of all time" (also considered as a noun) originally referred to Muhammad Ali, one of the greatest boxers of all time. The first written usage is …
Difference between "pardon me" and "I beg your pardon"
Sep 9, 2013 · The range of possible meanings that a speaker may intend to convey with either "Pardon me" or "I beg your pardon" in different situations is considerably larger than any fundamental …
What is the origin of the phrase 'touch wood'?
Jan 12, 2016 · Here is the entry for "knock on wood" in Robert Hendrickson, The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, fourth edition (2008): knock on wood. Why do we say …
etymology - Origin of 'a rising tide lifts all boats' - English ...
Feb 26, 2015 · ' A rising tide lifts all boats ' is a saying that has become more and more common in recent decades and is often used in economic and political contexts: The aphorism "a rising tide lifts …