Phrases |
'Useful' phrases |
Idioms |
Tongue twisters |
Language-related proverbs
English-speaking photographers often ask people to 'say cheese' to get them to smile in photographs. This is because the ee in cheese, a close unrounded front vowel (/i:/), is hard to pronounce without a smile. In other language they might use words that contain this vowel, some other vowel pronounced with a smile, or words that people find amusing.
| Language | Phrase |
|---|---|
| Belarusian | Ўсміхнуся! (Wsmikhnusia!) - smile |
| Bulgarian | Кажи сирене! (Kaži sirene!) - say cheese |
| Catalan | Lluis |
| Chinese (Cantonese) | 笑 (siu) - laugh / 小小 (síusíu) - a little 一 二 三 (yāt yim sàam) - one two three |
| Chinese (Mandarin) | 茄子 (qiézi) - eggplant - used in China 七 (qā) - seven - used in Taiwan 笑一笑! (xiào yī xiào!) - smile |
| Croatian | Ptičica |
| Czsech | Vyletí ptáček! |
| Danish | Sig 'appelsin' (say orange) |
| Finnish | Muikku (vendance) Sano muikku! |
| French | Ouisitii (marmoset) / Souriez! (smile!) / pepsi |
| German | Spaghetti / Käsekuchen (cheesecake) Wo ist das Vögelchen? (Where's the birdie?) - said to children Lächeln (smile) |
| Greek | Πες τυρί! (Pes tyrí!) - say cheese |
| Hebrew | Tagid 'chiz' - say cheese |
| Hungarian | Csíz [tʃi:z] (small bird) |
| Indonesian | Katakan keju! (say cheese) |
| Japanese | Sei, no! / はい、チーズ！ (hai, chiizu!) |
| Kannada | ನಗಿ (nagu) |
| Korean | 김치 (gimchi / kimch'i) |
| Spanish | Patata (potato) - used in Spain Diga 'whiskey' (say 'whiskey') - used in Latin America |
| Persian (Farsi) | apple - (sib) سیب |
| Portuguese | Digam X (say X [ʃiʃ]) - used in Brazil Olha o passarinho (watch the birdie) |
| Romanian | Zâmbeşte! (smile!) |
| Russian | Скажи 'изюм!' (Skazhi 'izyum!') - Say 'raisins!' Улыбнитесь! (Ulybnites'!) - Smile! Улыбочку! (Ulybočku!) - a little smile |
| Swedish | Sig appelsin (say orange) / Säg omelett! (say omelette) |
| Talossan | Ditz "wisky" |
| Tamil | சிரி (siri) - smile, laugh |
| Telugu | Navvu |
| Thai | Pepsi |
| Turkish | Gülümseyin! (smile) |
| Ukrainian | Посміхніться! (Posmikhnit'sya!) - smile |
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Say_cheese
http://www.flickr.com/groups/central/discuss/72157611422265222/
http://www.omniglot.com/blog/?p=135
http://www.librarything.com/topic/56452
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1610650
If you would like to make any corrections or additions to this page, please contact me.
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