say cheese

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

  (file)

Verb

say cheese (third-person singular simple present says cheese, present participle saying cheese, simple past and past participle said cheese)

1. (idiomatic, chiefly imperative) To smile for a photograph by saying the word "cheese" (the vowel of which, when pronounced as is usual in English, forces a somewhat smile-shaped mouth).
   • 2008, Tim Connelly, The Local News, page 41:

     Danny watched the birdie and said cheese, and then it was over and the wait began. Danny would wait for weeks in anticipation of the day the final product was passed out by his teacher Miss Turner.

Coordinate terms

• cheeser

Translations

elicit a smile from someone for a photograph

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 茄子 (zh) (qiézi)

• Finnish: (there's no "standard" term)
• Japanese: チーズ (ja) (chīzu)
• Portuguese: dizer xis
• Vietnamese: cười lên nào

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Catalan: digueu Lluíiiis
• Icelandic: segðu sís
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} di patata

See also translations at cheese#Interjection