Two Questions about Blessing

[Luisa39]

For my fellow "blessers" on here, I have two questions:

1.  When you bless someone after a sneeze, how often and in what circumstances do you include the person's name in the blessing (example -- "Bless you, Anne.")?  I like the idea of this because it sounds intimate and personal; however, I think I've only done it once in my life.

2.  Do you also get "excited" when you hear the words "bless" or "blessing" or "blessed" (or even "bless you") in situations not involving sneezing?  (I definitely do, as I like how those words sound.)

Thanks ahead of time for your replies.

 

 

 

 

 

[Joal 555]

For some reason, I've never thought about adding the person's name after saying "bless you". I'm going to think about that, but my gut feeling is that it might feel a little strange (maybe just because I'm not used to it?), although I take your point that it kind of adds a personal touch (maybe that's what makes me shy away from it?).

On your other question, hearing "bless you" outside of a sneezing context doesn't excite me, but it definitely registers in my mind, so if someone says "bless you" because they are being sympathetic or complimentary about a good deed or whatever, it can be quite nice, if said by the "right person"  . Having said that, when the Rabbi at my local synagogue says it (which happens on a regular basis) just because someone helps him with something, I cringe every time! Go figure

 

 

[FreeFluShots]

I generally don't say bless you, but I do really love it when someone blesses a person and adds their name like you mentioned. It makes it so much cuter/hotter for me when someone does that, lol. As for hearing the words outside of a sneezing context, it actually makes me a little uncomfortable when someone says it like that. I'm not sure why.

[Shamaël]

1) I never include the person's name in blessings, because when I bless someone the only thing I want is not to draw attention on me (I'm paranoiac but I alyaws imagine people will figure out my fetish if I don't act normally when someone sneezes), so I do it the more casually I am able to, and addind a name would be strange or insistent, I believe. But, just as Freeflushot said, if someone adds it when blessing another person in front of me, or if I read it in a fanfic, I like it because, as you say, it's more intimate.

2) Can't say, in french it never happens. But I imagine in english I would be more "ashamed" or uncomfortable than excited.

6 hours ago, Joal-o'-lantern 555 said:

Having said that, when the Rabbi at my local synagogue says it (which happens on a regular basis) just because someone helps him with something, I cringe every time!

 Oh my God, I'm sure I would cringe too... What an awkward situation!

[MysteryGirl]

I don't bless people by name, just because it sounds weird. I don't personally go with God Bless You specifically because it sounds very formal. Occasionally, though, I do like to hear it from others. My rule with blessings is friends and cute sneezes only 

[Alex6230]

1) I've never heard someone actually use names after they say "bless you". That seems rather odd for me.

2) Not really a religious person so I can't say I do.

[Oolia]

1) I do add the name afterwards sometimes if it's unclear who I'm talking to, i.e. if someone sneezed during voice chat but it doesn't seem like everyone heard it. Basically I just want to make sure it doesn't sound like I'm randomly saying "bless you" to whomever did not hear the sneeze  But yeah, I absolutely love it in fics because it sounds very intimate and caring, but I don't say it in the same "tone" as I read it, if that makes sense. My intent isn't the same.

2) It mostly annoy me when it's being used for religious purposes lol. As an atheist, I just kind of want to appropriate the term for sneezes only >_>

[Shay]

I almost never bless people because in general it makes me really uncomfortable. The major exception was the last time I was in a relationship. It was with someone I met here, so we were both aware of each other's fetish. I was completely comfortable blessing him, but I never added his name to the blessings. Furthermore, whenever I write fetish fics, I never include a person's name when a character is blessing someone. It's not that I have anything against it, but it's not something that I ever hear, so it never occurred to me to do it, and I think it would sound a bit weird to me because I'm not used to it.

As for your second question, I would say that I generally hate those words being used outside of the context of sneezing, but it really depends on the context how much it will bother me. Like someone saying "bless you" if you've done something nice for them would really make me cringe. However, the word "blessing" or "blessings" doesn't really bother me that much if it's referring to a prayer.

Also, this probably isn't what you met, but I also really hate it when people bless you after a cough. I get that sometimes people can't tell if something was a cough or a sneeze, but I've known people that purposely bless for coughs. It's been a very long time since someone purposely blessed me for a cough as far as I know. Like it actually happened just last week that a nurse at a medical appointment blessed me after I coughed. I have no idea if she did it on purpose or if she actually thought I sneezed. I didn't bother to point out that they were coughs instead of sneezes because I was extremely stressed out about other things that it overshadowed any discomfort I might have felt for being blessed, especially for something that wasn't a sneeze. I just ignored her and stuck to the matter at hand. I'm not sure if I'll be seeing this nurse again, but if I do and she blesses me for a cough again, if I'm not too stressed out I might point out that it wasn't a sneeze to see how she responds.

Edited October 27, 2016 by Shayla

[HarleyQuinnSFF]

I usually just say bless you unless it's my husband.. then I usually add something like "baby", "honey", "sweetie", etc.  

[Kuchafya613]

1.) I never include a name or a title after blessing someone, even with my SO. It just seems a bit over the top to me, like it might out me as a sneeze fetishist somehow.

2.) I actually kinda dislike hearing the word "bless" in any other context since it gets my hopes up that someone in the general vicinity is sneezing. xD 

[MegOfAllTrades]

1. I never address the person who sneezed by name, because blessing them is hard and personal enough for me as it is.

2. When I hear the term "bless" being used outside of sneezing it kinda weirds me out.

[Luisa39]

I must clarify -- like many here, I don't particularly like to hear "bless you" used for anything other than a sneeze.  But I do love hearing the other variants, especially "blessing" and "blessed."