synonyms - What are alternative responses for when someone sneezes?


Question: What is an appropriate English response to reply when someone nearby sneezes?


Background: I am American by birth, and was raised to respond 'God Bless You' when someone sneezes -- though I often shorten this to simply 'Bless You'. Once, while on Wall Street as a consultant, I replied 'Bless You' and my boss turned to me & said "they don't say that here." At the time I was a bit taken aback, but now as a graduate student, surrounded by non-native English speakers, I can appreciate the contextual / cultural subtlety of my response -- (e.g. this question/responses ).


Being German by heritage, "gesundheit" works, but requires a multilingual explanation to my colleagues. I have tried to switch to 'Good Health', but I find this so awkward that it often stumbles out as 'God Health'... Shortening this to 'Health' feels equally clunky.


So... Language Experts! What are your thoughts? What is a reasonable, English, response to reply when someone sneezes?




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