Odd little poem/joke I found

[Wig_Powder]

I just keep finding weird sneeze related stuff. In this case, I was on the hunt for things involving maids sneezing from dust or feathers (a premise I've long been a huge fan of), and stumbled across this. It's not quite what I was looking for, but I still got a kick out of it;

https://66.media.tumblr.com/f28a505d5b35675367a2636377024015/58b005e99df6cf7a-06/s1280x1920/9191387a00e967518e69873bbe5b4a75ab839344.png

The whole thing clearly exists in service of the pun, but assuming we take it seriously, there are some questions raised about this. Why does the text imply she was leaving the area to go sneeze somewhere else? Why did the man assume she was going to sneeze "at" someone? What is the relationship, if any, between the two speakers?

Also, the tags suggest this comes from the 1890's. I'm really curious to know the author and the context of this. Like I said, it's most likely just meant to be a joke, but there's something about it that feels like there's more to the story. Or maybe that's just my brain jumping on anything fetish related.

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

well, "to sneeze at" used to mean to be outwardly disdainful of, in addition to meaning the act of actually sneezing, so i think that's the additional layer of wordplay that completes this puzzle 

[Wig_Powder]

You're right, that does add an extra layer to the joke. Still not quite sure why it inferred she was going somewhere specific to sneeze, but that's ok; I like a bit of mystery.

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

On 11/2/2020 at 6:19 PM, Wig_Powder said:

You're right, that does add an extra layer to the joke. Still not quite sure why it inferred she was going somewhere specific to sneeze, but that's ok; I like a bit of mystery.

hm you're right... 🤔 maybe it was a politeness thing at some time? just guessing at this point tho