"Say 'cheese'" is an English-language instruction used by
photographers who want their subject or subjects to
smile with their lips apart and teeth showing.
History
In the late 19th century, different aesthetic and behavioral norms required keeping the mouth small, which led to photographers using "say prunes".[1]
In different languages and cultures
Perhaps because of strong western influence, especially in the realm of photography, and perhaps because of increased numbers of western visitors after photographic equipment became widely available, "Say cheese" has also entered into the
Japanese language. However, "say" is almost always dropped from the phrase, resulting in simply being "cheese." This is usually in Japanese (and written in
katakana) as "chiizu" (チーズ).
Other languages have adopted this method, albeit with different words that sound similar to cheese to get the desired effect of shaping the mouth to form a smile.
Argentina: "whiskey" ("whiskey", pronounced to end with an ee sound)
Brazil: "Digam 'X'" ("Say '
X'") (the name of the letter "X" in Portuguese (/ʃis/) sounds a lot like the English word "cheese")
China: 茄子 (Qiézi), meaning "
eggplant". The pronunciation of this word is notably similar to that of the English word "cheese". In
Hong Kong, the phrase is "一,二,三" ("yat yi saam") meaning "1, 2, 3".[2]
Colombia: "whiskey" ("whiskey", pronounced to end with an ee sound)
Portugal: "Olha o passarinho" ("Look at the little bird")
Russia: The English word "cheese", or sometimes the Russian word "сыр" (pronounced seer), which means "cheese". Also "Скажи изюм" (pronounced Skazhi izyum), meaning "Say raisins" (used as the title of a 1983 novel by
Vasily Aksyonov).
Serbia: "птичица" ("Little bird"), which sounds like pteecheetsa
Spain: "di/diga/decid patata" [citation needed] ("say '
potato'"). Also, "mirar al pajarito"[4] ("look at the birdie"), intended to make people look directly at the camera. In other regions, like
Catalonia or
Valencian Community: "Lluís" ("Lewis").