How do the natives spell it? ;-)

[TheCakeIsAlive]

Well, we've got a pretty international bunch here. Inspired by the "'oo' sound"-thread, here I'm wondering how a sneeze is generally spelled where you're from.

For example, I believe in English the general public would spell a sneeze as "Achoo" as far as I'm aware, and in Dutch the general spelling would be 'Hatsjoe' or 'Hatsjie'. So... what is it where you are from?

[VoOs]

Ohh, I've been thinking of starting a thread like this! Fun, fun.

In Swedish, we usually spell it like "Atjoo". *laugh*

[Sitruuna]

In Finland... I think I've most seen a simple "atsi(/ätsi)" or "atsiu(/ätsiu)"... Though I'm not sure and I can't check from some childrens' books because I'm not home... xD Though if people imitate a sneeze (not fakeing but just... you know, saying some "word" or so) they usually do a "ätsi(h)".

Maybe some other Finn(/finnish speaker) remembers better... xD

(edit. *googled things* It seems that the atsiu/ätsiu is rather common, yes...)

Edited April 25, 2011 by Sitruuna

[gryffin]

In Italian it's usually ecciù (etciù) or eccì (etcì). The former is rather more frequent, the latter has a more old-fashioned ring to it but you do hear it every now and then

[Honkytonklagoon]

In Italian it's usually ecciù (etciù) or eccì (etcì). The former is rather more frequent, the latter has a more old-fashioned ring to it but you do hear it every now and then

That's lovely.

[March Hare]

Fab idea, Sigrith! Too bad you've robbed me of my contribution.

I know the French, but I think I'll leave that to an actual French fetishist(e)!

[Jorm]

Man, I can't help but feel that comparatively the English spelling is absurdly boring!

[March Hare]

Man, I can't help but feel that comparatively the English spelling is absurdly boring!

Ah, but that is only the generic spelling! There is an INFINITY of variations in English, whereas in Dutch... not so much. For instance, in English you can write "tch" or "ch" or "tsh" and it can all be sort of the same sound, but in Dutch there is only one proper way to write that sound down, i.e. "tsj". I suppose we should be glad we do have about as many different vowels to choose from.

[count tiszula]

The question fascinating me at present is whether it can be discovered where the frontier is between the ACHOO sneezes of Western Europe and the APCHKHI and similar sneezes found in Eastern Europe and the Middle East.

What for example is the preferred sneeze in Poland, Hungary etc; or perhaps there is a buffer zone where both are acceptable. Ultimately a world sneezing map could be constructed with all borders marked, just like a linguistic map, like fainlites/barleys and the others.

One could obviously devote a life of research to this subject, and what fun it would be...

[pirate_wench]

A skyping friend of mine from Germany (that doesn't know about this) always says "Hatschi", so I guess that's the german spelling?

[guynextdoor]

It is the german spelling.

Hatschi or less common "Hatschie"

By the way: it sounds more beautyful

Edited May 8, 2011 by guynextdoor

[atchoum]

Fab idea, Sigrith! Too bad you've robbed me of my contribution.

I know the French, but I think I'll leave that to an actual French fetishist(e)!

Sorry to be late with this ! The French form is 'atchoum', which is also the name of the sneezy dwarf. You do get variants though, 'atcha' or 'atchaaaa' being one of them.

I think the 'm' at the end comes from a belated attempt to stifle. It's considered polite to stifle, but most people here (fortunately!) don't.

[brokensneeze]

Fab idea, Sigrith! Too bad you've robbed me of my contribution.

I know the French, but I think I'll leave that to an actual French fetishist(e)!

Sorry to be late with this ! The French form is 'atchoum', which is also the name of the sneezy dwarf. You do get variants though, 'atcha' or 'atchaaaa' being one of them.

I think the 'm' at the end comes from a belated attempt to stifle. It's considered polite to stifle, but most people here (fortunately!) don't.

In France, anything goes as long as you're polite about it and make it seem refined

[Blessing Queen]

In Brazil we usually spell "Atchim",it's very common in comics.