In ancient Greece, followers of Pythagoras were expressly prohibited from eating beans. This was actually quite a sensible proscription if you consider that, in the ancient Greek language the word πνευμα (pneuma) means not only ‘wind’ (hence pneumatic: inflated, or pneumonia: πνευμονία) but also ‘soul’, which meaning still survives today as a linguistic metaphor, as in: ‘breath of life’, and the rather quaint custom of saying ‘bless you’ to someone who has just sneezed.

While the real purpose of this blessing is now ambiguous, it stems from the European belief that the soul is expelled from the body when sneezing and that, variously, the devil might either steal away your soul while in this homeless state, or, conversely, that our temporarily vacant bodies could become occupied by the devil in our absence. Incidentally, Judith, one of the canteen ladies where I work, told me off recently when I thanked her for her answering benediction, telling me that to express gratitude in this particular instance would negate the response.

As above, so below, as the saying goes. I’m not sure if Brussels sprouts were known to the Pythagoreans but if they were, I suspect they would have been forbidden too.

Language can be a tricky thing.