From the
Yiddish: an old toast, a blessing, and a polite expression uttered after somebody sneezes, akin to the
German "
gezundheit",
English "
bless you", and
Gonzo's "Zorgleflatz!" Literally, "good health (in/to/all the way down to) your
belly button." Implies a wish for total
well-being, and embodies a rational, orderly
Teutonic solution to a sneeze. Where the English superstition presupposes
demons and calls for the intervention of a higher power, the Yiddish version presupposes illness, and counters with a wish that you might get better, all the way down to your belly button--much more sensible, really.
Thanks to koala and stand/alone/bitch for the corrections--"ein gezund in der pupik" is from the Yiddish, not the Polish. I learned it from the grandmother of a Polish-Jewish friend, and she never spelled it out for me; any grammar or spelling corrections are welcome.