Why do Austrians and Bavarians greet people with 'Grüß Gott'?

Question

'Grüß Gott' literally means 'Greet God'. Surely if someone wants to greet God, he/she should do it him-/herself. A simple 'hallo' or 'guten Morgen' or such like would be far more appropriate when greeting strangers. After all, if the person/people being greeted is/are not religious, then the greeting bares no meaning...

Answer 1

As a Austrian girl, I would say that is typically for us. In bigger cities like Vienna, everybody would say "Guten Morgen". But if you outside of the cities, mostly in Styria the people say "Grüß Gott", that is normally. And it is also polite. And that has nothing to do with the religious.

Answer 2

Forget that. Why don't kids play cats cradle anymore.?

Answer 3

More accurately, it means "god's greeting."  

You can just say "guten tag" in response; no need to take offense.  

Do you get all prickly after you sneeze and someone says "god bless you?"

Answer 4

It's just the local custom. It's one of those words that has been used so often people forget what it literally means. Just like people in North Amercia say "gesundheit!" when someone sneezes. Ask them what it really means - and most won't get it right. The popularity of certain words come and go. Just like the recent popularity of "tschus!" has begun to replace "auf wiedersehen!", much to the chagrin of my older relatives.

Tschus,

Petra M, Vancouver