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I often see when people sneeze, the colleagues suddenly respond with the word "Gesundheit".

My question is that, can we use "Gesundheit" when somebody is coughing? If not, is there any word for it?

Arsak
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Xeoff Baloch
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    I say Gesundheit also after somebody coughs. Then they look either strange at me or tell me, that they were not sneezing. But, still they are thankful. – tommsch Aug 03 '19 at 19:50
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    @tommsch If you kept doing that with me, I would probably start avoiding to cough in your presence after the fifth time. ;-) – Karl Aug 04 '19 at 13:45
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    FWIW - in my family of German descent in the US we only said "Gesundheit" if someone sneezed. – Bob Jarvis - Слава Україні Aug 04 '19 at 16:37
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    Can I just say that none of this is related to the German language. This is a pan-cultural habit, blessing someone only when they sneeze and not when they cough, when blow their nose etc. A related question that would be about language might be, why do so many English speaking people use a German word when a perfectly good English equivalent is available. – Mr Lister Aug 05 '19 at 09:27
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    @tommsch i also do this and get the exact same reaction. It's always funny when they say "i only coughed". – Clayn Aug 05 '19 at 10:36
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    @MrLister When I was young, I was told "bless you" originated from the false superstition that when someone sneezed their soul would be ejected from their body and it required an act of God to restore them. In order to avoid such heresy, I should instead wish someone "Gesundheit" since if they are sneezing it is likely they are in poor health. How much of that has historical basis in fact, I couldn't tell you, but as a young protestant, that was the justification given for preferring the German term. – jmbpiano Aug 05 '19 at 16:22
  • @jmbpiano This is an interesting reason. Do you think, is this really true? – Xeoff Baloch Aug 07 '19 at 12:10
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    When someone sneezes you say: "Ruhe! Aufwischen!" (German for "silence! mop it up!") – 0xC0000022L Jul 14 '20 at 10:31

5 Answers5

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As far as I'm aware, the word "Gesundheit" is only used when people sneeze. It's similar to "bless you" in English.

One explanation I heard is that it is possible to sneeze for unrelated reasons (binding light, dust in the nose), and expresses the wish that the person sneezing should be healthy.

I never heard of a word in response to coughing, neither German nor English.

RalfFriedl
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    In the US and Canadian English, "gesundheit" is very frequently used in response to a sneeze as well, especially on the East Coast, although I believe it's much less common in Britain and Ireland. Probably from Judeo-German; in some parts of New York, you will hear the Yiddish זײַ געזונט (zay gezunt) instead. But yes, only when people sneeze. – Geoff Nixon Aug 05 '19 at 03:59
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No, not specific for coughing.

There is neither a word for it nor is it common practice for bystanders to comment any coughing, only in case you are really concerned about the cougher's condition.

As you figured out, a bystander's commit is usual for sneezing.

A current (last 10-20 years) "developement" of "Gesundheit!" from bystanders turns into "Entschuldigung." from the sneezer in business environment = where you disturb an unknown crowd, while being with friends, the "Gesundheit! - Danke." is common.

So you could derive a "Entschuldigung." as well from the cougher because he might have disturbed the bystanders.

(updated/ specified thanks to comments)

Shegit Brahm
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    Never heard "Entschuldigung" in response of "Gesundheit". Unter Freunden ist die Reihenfolge so: "<Hatschi!>" -- "Gesundheit." -- "Danke." -- "Prost!". – Michael Hoppe Aug 03 '19 at 11:25
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    @MichaelHoppe It's not used in response to "Gesundheit". It's said by the one who sneezed instead getting "Gesundheit" from bystanders. If someone says Entschuldigung after sneezing, there usually is no response or further acknowledgment by others. I would say "Entschuldigung" is mostly used when you want to avoid that whole "Gesundheit"--"Danke" spiel which calls unnecessary attention to the situation. – kapex Aug 03 '19 at 12:30
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    This is not such a recent development, it's something that the new Knigge invented some 10-15 years ago out of... uh... urgent need for something new. Much like all those new words that are not German at all, which the Duden (and Coca Cola Corp) invented, such as unkaputtbar. – Damon Aug 03 '19 at 19:45
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    I agree, this is not a recent development. It may be 10 to 15 years old but definitely not to invent something new for the new thing's sake. Avoiding the Gesundheit-Danke-Spiel in a professional environment is reson enough. – Bernhard Döbler Aug 04 '19 at 13:55
  • @Damon: true, recent is always a matter of personal experience. Getting old, 10-15 years is recently for me ;-) like Bernhard Döbler said, that's where I picked it, too. – Shegit Brahm Aug 04 '19 at 18:59
  • Even if the Knigge suggests it, in real life, nobody apologizes for sneezing except if they are speaking in front of several people/a crowd. – Ian Aug 05 '19 at 06:07
  • @Ian or if it was maybe an extrem loud/weird sneeze. Sometimes when using VoIP and i sneeze in a rather loud way and forgot to muste my microphone i apologize for it – Clayn Aug 05 '19 at 10:38
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    @Damon “Unkaputtbar” was hardly invented by Duden. It was included because it’s a word that’s in use (maybe not by you specifically, but demonstrably by many others). This is how dictionaries are supposed to work: descriptive, not prescriptive. Duden is a bit of both but it’s not prescribing the existence of a word, it is documenting its active usage. – Konrad Rudolph Aug 05 '19 at 11:06
  • @KonradRudolph: Sure. It's in use much like Allda, hasduwillsdu, weisdu. And, as stated, it was invented by Coca Cola Corp for their awesome unkaputtbar PET bottles which the Fanta sub-brand had first, I believe (and the Duden promptly added it two years or so later). Much like other bullshit like postfaktisch which is not even semantically correct in itself. Although of course all of this is German by definition (as it is in the Duden, which is the equivalent to the Bible which is The Word of God) it nevertheless isn't German. Much like law and justice are entirely unrelated things. – Damon Aug 06 '19 at 10:04
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"Gesundheit" is only used when someone sneezes

It's supposed to be a custom from the days of the Black Death in Europe. The "Knigge" , which is widely considered the reference for questions regarding good manners in Germany, claims that you should no longer use this expression (and politely pretend to have seen and heard nothing). However, this rule didn't prevail (yet?) and people continue to wish others "health" when they sneeze.

Frank from Frankfurt
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As an addition to Shegit's answer, if you hear someone saying "Gesundheit" as a reaction to coughing, it is most likely that this person mistook the coughing for a sneeze (or is not sure what it was)

Volker Landgraf
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For completeness, if someone says something totally not understandable, like using a lot of technical vocabulary, some people say "Gesundheit" sarcastically to point out that you spoke so unclearly or that the word sounds so complicated that you might as well just have sneezed.

-Was bedeutet eigentlich DNS?
-Desoxyribonukleinsäure.
-Gesundheit!

infinitezero
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    I’ve never heard this done in German. It’s (somewhat) common in English though. – Konrad Rudolph Aug 05 '19 at 11:08
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    .. or for words or names that sound like someone sneezed. "What brand was that harddrive you bought?" - "Hitachi." - "Gesundheit." – WooShell Aug 05 '19 at 11:41
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    My colleague uses this when we speak outside of English or German vocabulary. +1 to answer! – Sanctus Aug 05 '19 at 12:47
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    That's totally colloquial and more like a joke in form of a running gag than a real thing to do. It's also done when there is a last name or a technical term which is hard to understand and considered a foreign word. – shaedrich Aug 06 '19 at 11:08