Exclusive | Why do dads sneeze like that?

“Just let it out.”It’s a line I’ve heard from my father more times than I can count, usually as I scrunch up my face, squeeze my eyes shut and clamp my nose, producing little more than a pathetic squeak as I desperately try to stifle a sneeze.Easy for him to say.When my dad sneezes, subtlety goes straight out the window.

First comes the dramatic gasp of air.Then, a ferocious “achoo,” accompanied by a full-body recoil.

It sounds less like a sneeze than a scream — and routinely sends the dog scrambling.My dad, it turns out, is in good, if very loud, company.

As a kid, my colleague Rachel Sacks would yell “earthquake” whenever her father, Robert Sacks, unleashed one of his signature sneezes.Wellness editor Carly Stern’s dad, Phil Stern, is similarly unrestrained at home.“I’m quite aware I’m louder than most,” he admitted to The Post.

Carly concurs: “It’s ridiculous.And unnecessary.”Around the office, plenty of Posties had their own stories of fathers whose sneezes seemed capable of rattling the walls.

Online, videos of patriarchs unleashing booming “achoos” have racked up millions of views, while families fleeing for cover have inspired countless parody clips.The dreaded “dad sneeze” even inspired a skit starring Will Ferrell.And apparently, the phenomenon has become so well-established that even ChatGPT knows the lore, writing that “dads have apparently decided that sneezing is a full-body event.”“I think dad sneezes were the inspiration for the atomic bomb, I definitely feel like I’m in a fallout zone.

Ears ringing, confusion, praying for death, etc,” one Tiktok user wrote. Another commented: “Mine too!! It’s like the roof raises!! Almost a scream.Scare the pants off ya!” So it begs the question: Why do dads sneeze like that?“It’s just one of those mysteries of life, like where do the missing socks go?” Robert said.Others suspect the answer may be buried somewhere deep in our past.“It could be ...