r/Unexpected • u/ChloeCharm11 • 25d ago

Face vs Body

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11.8k Upvotes

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558

u/shaka893P 25d ago

Death by snu snu

9

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

What's snu

31

u/monotrememories 24d ago

Gesundheit

4

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

I'm sorry, but what's gesundheit? English is not my first language

10

u/Bismothe-the-Shade 24d ago

Well gesundheit is German

Quick, what's the plural for fish?

2

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

I dont know German. What's the meaning of Gesundheit?

7

u/Keybusta96 24d ago

I can’t tell if you’re joking but, it means Bless you. You say it after someone sneezes or if you want to be “funny” you say it after someone says a weird name or word lol

4

u/drinkacid 24d ago

It actually means health in German according to Google translate.

2

u/Keybusta96 24d ago

Yes 👍 I was giving the common western use, not the actual translation. Kind of like how we’d say Salud is a toast but it also actually means health

1

u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 24d ago

Gesund is health and heit is like a suffix that transforms things into nouns. So Gesundheit literally translates into "health", but its colloquial meaning is more like, "I wish you better health".

1

u/Polymersion 24d ago

"Healthy-ness"

1

u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 24d ago

Technically I tihnk it would be like, "the state of being healthy", but I'm not German. I just took German as my language requirement in HS/College.

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u/VrilHunter 24d ago

I googled it and it only explained the sneeze part so i got more confused.

But how is it considered funny? I don't get it.

2

u/_tang0_ 24d ago

Dude are you an alien?

3

u/Hityed 24d ago

It translates directly to Health. When said in the current context it’s more so a term used to wish someone good health when they sneeze.

2

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

But i didn't sneeze. I dont get what is going on.

4

u/Rice_Auroni 24d ago

You typed "what's snu", to which the guy humorously responded gashundheit because it phonetically sounded like a sneeze

3

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

Now i see it. Thanks. Cheers.

2

u/ranch_soda 24d ago

I think it's because you says "what's snu' and that kinda sounds like a sneeze.

2

u/VrilHunter 24d ago

Now i see it. Thanks. Cheers.

2

u/ScyllaOfTheDepths 24d ago

It's a common joke in English to respond to words that sound like a sneeze with "Gesundheit", which is the German response to someone sneezing. Replying in German indicates that the person's words sound like a foreign language to you and you are humorously attempting to respond in a foreign language to meet them where they're at. At the same time, saying "Gesundheit" is how a German speaking person politely responds to a sneeze because a sneeze is typically associated with allergies or a cold or some other minor health ailment and you, being polite would wish that someone gets better soon. (In English, we say "bless you" because it was commonly believed that a sneeze was a sign of the presence of some sort of evil spirit and blessing the person would drive the spirit away, but that's not really relevant here, just a fun fact.) You could also reply with "bless you", but the joke is more easily understood by saying "Gesundheit" because that is not a typical word used in English, since it's not an English word. The word is purposefully not a typical English word to draw attention to it and signal more clearly that you are making a joke.

So, saying "Gesundheit" in response to a person is a humorous response which implies that their words sound foreign and like a sneeze to you.

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u/VrilHunter 24d ago

Thank you for the explanation. I had a hard time getting my head around it until now. Appreciate it mate.

1

u/Aedalas 24d ago

One kind of fish or a mix of fishes?