[Ads-l] When America sneezes

Wed Jul 27 12:14:03 UTC 2022

Some very cool citations. 

Perhaps related: The 1830s on was when the animalcule theory of diseases was being developed, which would have made the disease version make sense. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#19th_and_20th_centuries <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germ_theory_of_disease#19th_and_20th_centuries>

Benjamin Barrett (he/his/him)
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 27 Jul 2022, at 00:17, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
> 
> There's also a related set of sayings of the form "When X takes
> snuff/tobacco, Y sneezes." While there are various examples (in French and
> English) with France taking snuff and Europe sneezing, the earliest example
> I've found, from Nikolai Gogol in Russian, has France doing the sneezing.
> 
> ---
> Nikolai Gogol, "Diary of a Madman" (1835)
> (Russian: Записки сумасшедшего)
> Это уже известно всему свету, что когда Англия нюхает табак, то Франция
> чихает.
> [translation: The whole world knows that when England takes snuff, France
> sneezes.]
> ---
> 
> Gogol's short story was translated into French in 1845, so perhaps it
> inspired variations on the "sneezing" theme at that point.
> 
> ---
> https://books.google.com/books?id=o1UqAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA209
> Nikolai Gogol, _Nouvelles russes_, tr. by Louis Viardot, 1845, p. 209
> Le monde entier sait que quand l'Angleterre prend du tabac, c'est la France
> qui éternue.
> ---
> 
> --bgz
> 
> On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 8:31 PM ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> 
>> Two corrections. I should have said “Great work, Ben”. Also the year
>> of the citation was 1849 not 1949.
>> 
>> Great work, Ben. Following your lead I looked in Gallica and found a
>> slightly earlier citation. M. de Humboldt received credit.
>> 
>> Date: October 30, 1849
>> Title : Le Corsaire : journal des spectacles, de la littérature, des
>> arts, des moeurs et des modes
>> Publisher : Au bureau du journal (Paris)
>> Database: Gallica BNF
>> 
>> 
>> https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46854590/f2.image.r=%22enrhum%C3%A9e%22?rk=515024;0
>> 
>> [Begin excerpt]
>> Un de nos amis , qui arrive de Berlin, a pu y causer une heure avec
>> l'illustre savant, M. de Humboldt.
>> 
>> — Monsieur, lui a dit le puits de science, tâchez que votre patrie se
>> porte bien. Quand la France est enrhumée du cerveau, toute l'Europe
>> éternue.
>> [End excerpt]
>> 
>> [Translation attempt]
>> A friend of ours, who has just arrived from Berlin, was able to talk
>> there for an hour with the illustrious scholar, M. de Humboldt.
>> 
>> Monsieur, said the well of science to him, try to make sure your
>> country is well. When France has a head cold, all of Europe sneezes.
>> [End translation attempt]
>> 
>> Garson
>> 
>> On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 7:50 PM ADSGarson O'Toole
>> <adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Greta work, Ben. Following your lead I looked in Gallica and found a
>>> slightly earlier citation. M. de Humboldt received credit.
>>> 
>>> Date: October 30, 1949
>>> Title : Le Corsaire : journal des spectacles, de la littérature, des
>>> arts, des moeurs et des modes
>>> Publisher : Au bureau du journal (Paris)
>>> Database: Gallica BNF
>>> 
>>> 
>> https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k46854590/f2.image.r=%22enrhum%C3%A9e%22?rk=515024;0
>>> 
>>> [Begin excerpt]
>>> Un de nos amis , qui arrive de Berlin, a pu y causer une heure avec
>>> l'illustre savant, M. de Humboldt.
>>> 
>>> — Monsieur, lui a dit le puits de science, tâchez que votre patrie se
>>> porte bien. Quand la France est enrhumée du cerveau, toute l'Europe
>>> éternue.
>>> [End excerpt]
>>> 
>>> [Translation attempt]
>>> A friend of ours, who has just arrived from Berlin, was able to talk
>>> there for an hour with the illustrious scholar, M. de Humboldt.
>>> 
>>> Monsieur, said the fount of knowledge to him, try to make sure your
>>> country is well. When France has a head cold, all of Europe sneezes.
>>> [End translation attempt]
>>> 
>>> Garson
>>> 
>>> On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 4:24 AM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> The "M. de Humboldt" in Garson's 1851 cite appears to be Alexander von
>>>> Humboldt (1769-1859), younger brother of philosopher / linguist /
>> diplomat
>>>> Wilhelm.
>>>> 
>>>> ---
>>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=MnFPAQAAMAAJ&pg=PA150
>>>> "The Present European Crisis" (review of Michel Chevalier's "La Guerre
>> et
>>>> la Crisis Européenne"), London Quarterly Review, Vol. 27, Oct.
>> 1866/Jan.
>>>> 1867, p. 150
>>>> Time was when it could be said, with Napoleon III at Bordeaux, "when
>> France
>>>> is satisfied Europe is quiet," or, to borrow Alexander Humboldt's way
>> of
>>>> putting the matter, "when France has a cold in her head all Europe
>> sneezes."
>>>> ---
>>>> 
>>>> (Wikipedia says "between 1830 and 1848 [Alexander von] Humboldt was
>>>> frequently employed in diplomatic missions to the court of King Louis
>>>> Philippe of France, with whom he always maintained the most cordial
>>>> personal relations.")
>>>> 
>>>> Looking at French sources, I see Metternich features in a slightly
>> earlier
>>>> version, in an 1851 journal.
>>>> 
>>>> ---
>>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=oug-AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA248
>>>> _Mémoires de l'Académie des sciences, belles-lettres et arts de Lyon:
>>>> Classe des lettres, Vol. 1_, 1851, p. 248
>>>> M. de Metternich a dit : « Quand la France est enrhumée, toute l'Europe
>>>> éternue. »
>>>> [translation: "M. de Metternich said: 'When France has a cold, all of
>>>> Europe sneezes.'"]
>>>> ---
>>>> 
>>>> Here's Humboldt getting the attribution in 1858 (Google Books misdates
>> this
>>>> elsewhere as 1851):
>>>> 
>>>> Jean-Pierre Gallavardin, _L'enseignement clinique en Allemagne,
>>>> particulièrement à Vienne_, 1858, p. 137
>>>> https://books.google.com/books?id=8Ep4s0i84o4C&pg=RA1-PA137
>>>> M. de Humboldt exprimait ce fait d'une manière piquante, quand il
>> disait à
>>>> un Français, prenant congé de lui, quelques années après 1848 : «
>> Faites
>>>> donc en sorte de bien vous porter dans votre pays. » Pourquoi donc ? --
>>>> C'est que, lorsque la France est enrhumée, toute l'Europe éternue. »
>>>> [translation: "M. de Humboldt expressed this fact in a piquant way,
>> when he
>>>> said to a Frenchman, taking leave of him, a few years after 1848: 'Take
>>>> care, therefore, that you are well in your country.' 'Why is that?'
>> 'It's
>>>> because when France has a cold, all of Europe sneezes.'"
>>>> 
>>>> Interesting that these early versions have France catching a cold and
>>>> Europe sneezing rather than vice versa.
>>>> 
>>>> --bgz
>>>> 
>>>> On Tue, Jul 26, 2022 at 2:20 AM ADSGarson O'Toole <
>> adsgarsonotoole at gmail.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>>> Excellent topic, Benjamin and Ben. You performed great work locating
>>>>> intriguing citations and attributions,
>>>>> 
>>>>> The mention of France, Metternich, and Talleyrand indicate that a
>>>>> thorough search would require generating and using multiple
>>>>> translations into French, German, and perhaps other languages.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Instead, I performed a preliminary search restricted to English. Here
>>>>> is a fun instance in 1852 attributed to “M. de Humboldt”. Talleyrand
>>>>> died in 1838. Metternich died in 1859. So earlier instances are
>>>>> certainly possible.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Date: April 1852
>>>>> Periodical: Brownson's Quarterly Review
>>>>> Article 3: Austria and Hungary: Review of Les Saints Lieux.
>> Pèlerinage
>>>>> à Jérusalem, en passant par l'Autriche, la Hongrie, la Slavonie, les
>>>>> Provinces Danubiennes, Constantinople, l'Archipel, le Liban, la
>> Syrie,
>>>>> Alexandrie, Malte, la Sicile, et Marseille
>>>>> Start Page 195, Quote Page 201
>>>>> Publisher: Benjamin H. Greene, Boston, Massachusetts
>>>>> Database: Google Books Full View
>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> https://books.google.com/books?id=GeN9NyyJr9kC&q=%22to+sneeze%22#v=snippet&
>>>>> 
>>>>> [Begin excerpt - double-check for errors]
>>>>> It is the servility with which all that is done in France is copied
>> in
>>>>> Germany, that led M. de Humboldt to say to a French gentleman who was
>>>>> taking his leave of him to return to Paris, ‘See to it that your
>>>>> country keeps herself well, for when France gets a cold in her head
>>>>> all Europe is obliged to sneeze.’ I do not know whether this is a
>>>>> great honor for France or not, but surely it is very little for the
>>>>> rest of Europe.
>>>>> [End excerpt]
>>>>> 
>>>>> Garson
>>>>> 
>>>>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 1:12 PM Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at gmail.com>
>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> Looks like a job for Quote Investigator. There are various
>> versions of
>>>>>> "When France sneezes, (the rest of / all of) Europe catches a cold
>> /
>>>>> blows
>>>>>> its nose / holds its breath," attributed to Metternich,
>> Talleyrand, and
>>>>> no
>>>>>> doubt others.
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> 
>>>>>> On Fri, Jul 22, 2022 at 11:20 AM Barretts Mail <
>> mail.barretts at gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> John Spain (
>>>>>>> 
>> https://www.irishcentral.com/when-america-sneezes-col2619-41051922 <
>>>>>>> 
>> https://www.irishcentral.com/when-america-sneezes-col2619-41051922>)
>>>>> says
>>>>>>> “When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches the cold”
>>>>> originated
>>>>>>> in 1929 due to the Wall Street stock market crash.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> I learned it around 1990 as Japan catching a cold. Misako Onoda (
>>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> https://japanintercultural.com/about-us/news/president-obamas-bow-to-the-emperor/
>>>>>>> <
>>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> https://japanintercultural.com/about-us/news/president-obamas-bow-to-the-emperor/
>>>>>> )
>>>>>>> has an article that includes this.
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> On July 21, Argentine President Alberto Fernández said (
>>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> https://es-us.finanzas.yahoo.com/noticias/video-alberto-fern%C3%A1ndez-alguien-estornuda-175600794.html
>>>>>>> <
>>>>>>> 
>>>>> 
>> https://es-us.finanzas.yahoo.com/noticias/video-alberto-fern%C3%A1ndez-alguien-estornuda-175600794.html
>>>>>> )
>>>>>>> "Cuando alguien estornuda en Moscú un argentino se resfría”.”
>>>>>>> 
>>>>>>> 

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