this post was submitted on 08 Sep 2026
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Gesundheit.
Wohlsein*
("Gesundheit" can be misinterpreted as implying your health isn't good, and is therefore generally considered bad luck to say to someone when they sneeze —or, so I was told repeatedly in Frankfurt, Köln, Berlin, etc.)
Yes. The literal translation is “health”, which is also awkward. But in US English, this is a common response to a sneeze, basically the equivalent of “bless you” which is also a response to a sneeze.
Yes, and in the US, half-assed and plain stupid sayings exist, often lifted from other cultures but completely malformed and inane in doing so. Ergo, "in US English" is a shit argument. 🥲
It's regional. You'd likely get some funny looks if you said "Wohlsein" anywhere in the north or north-west of Germany.
(Pretty sure "Gesundheit" is also the standard in Köln, but it's been a few years since I last visited my family in the region.)
Yep, that tracks. I was only visiting Köln and Berlin, though that was with a few friends local to Frankfurt. 🤓