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Where did this trope originate from and why sneezing? It must be something
only in Asian culture because I have never seen this in any US television
shows. And yet sneezing when being talked about occurs in both anime and
dramas.


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2013-12-16T13:30:50.257
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tropes
Why do people sneeze when someone talks about them?


This is something that got featured in the Book of songs, this was a poem book
out of ancient china (1000BC) and still is occasionally found in Anime/Manga
now a days

> In certain parts of Eastern Asia, particularly in Japanese culture and
> Vietnamese culture, a sneeze without an obvious cause was generally
> perceived as a sign that someone was talking about the sneezer at that very
> moment - a belief that is still depicted in present-day manga and anime. In
> China, Vietnam and Japan, for instance, there is a superstition that if
> talking behind someone's back causes the person being talked about to
> sneeze; as such, the sneezer can tell if something good is being said (one
> sneeze), something bad is being said (two sneezes in a row), or if this is a
> sign that they are about to catch a cold (multiple sneezes).
> [source](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sneeze)

Small side note to _"It must be something only in Asian culture because I have
never seen this in any US television shows"_. Although not used as often in
movies/series nowadays, they still feature this trope once in a while and is
mainly used in a comedic sense. A sample would be _Scrubs_ and _NCIS_ where it
got featured a few times.


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2013-12-16T13:41:00.460
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In Homers Odyssey Telemachus sneezes when his mother speaks about him or what
he is doing. So there is western precedent.


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