Abstract
I chanced upon the fascinating article by Bhutta and Maxwell 1 following a recent conversation with friends. One of them sneezes in response to sexual ideation (and sunlight), another in response to fullness of the stomach.
I now wonder whether the expression ‘Bless you!’ originated in once common knowledge, now lost, that sneezing had this association with sexual ideation (or ‘lust’) and fullness of stomach (or ‘gluttony’).
I suggest this because a third acquaintance also sneezes for no self-reported reason, though the rest of us think it could well be ‘sloth’.
Footnotes
References
1.