Gesundheit

[darkerhorse]

A friend asked me what Italians say when someone sneezes and I didn't know.

His family is Sicilian-American but either Italian language or Sicilian dialect will do.

[erudita74]

Salute

[darkerhorse]

Sounds right. Thanks.

[erudita74]

I believe that, from an etymology point of view, there's a connection between the Latin word "salve," which was a greeting used by the Romans. This not only meant "hello," but also "be well," or "be in good health." So the Italian word "salute" basically means the same thing.

Erudita

[MarcuccioV]

We always used "salute" in our family. The pronunciation came out more like "Sah loo they"...