When we take a picture why do we "say cheese"?

Surly_101

I would think we say "Cheese" because the way we form the word with our mouth gives the impression of a smile. By saying "cheese" we (I, at least) bare our teeth which is the desired photo pose. Feb 17 04, 7:40 PM

MaggieG 5

I always thought you could choose which type of cheese to say. My favourite is gorgonzola. Do you think that's why I don't take a good photo? Feb 18 04, 2:52 AM

Kainantu

I was at Green Island off Cairns, Queensland, Australia recently. (If you haven't been to Cairns, make the opportunity - just like Honolulu and more - but that's another story...) When people were taking photos of Japanese tourists, they said, "Hai!" then "cheeezuh" If you think about the "zuh" on the end, there would be no smile if the photographed said the word. I wonder if "cheese" is a universal request to smile? Feb 18 04, 4:59 AM

Paulinations

Photographers across the country attempted to induce a laugh from their subjects. Many methods were tried, but none found as much success as the original approach. Sadly, even eating refried beans by the gallon cannot induce flatulence on demand, so photographers resorted to mentioning the original story. For several years, camera subjects would be told “did you hear the one about the photographer that cut the cheese?” just prior to the snapping of a shot, which almost never failed to get a laugh. Over the years, photographers began to shorten the reference, saying only “the one about cutting the cheese,” and still later merely “cut the cheese.” Eventually, they arrived at the short “cheese” of today, which conveniently causes the aforementioned smile-like mouth position, a remarkable serendipity of function following form. Ever since, photographers have implored their subjects to say the word “cheese,” in a now-forgotten reference to wind broken nearly a century ago. And so, the fermented dairy product we know as cheese became inexorably linked to the taking of photographs, as it remains to this day. Sep 17 09, 3:56 PM

queproblema

Farther down on the page Paulinations copied from is this disclaimer: "I'm distressed to have to write this, but I just want to make it clear: this is a fictional story, intended to be humorous." http://www.lukeswartz.com/writing/cheese.html Sep 17 09, 7:07 PM

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