What is "say cheese"

vb. (context idiomatic English) Used imperatively to elicit a smile from someone for a photograph by their saying "cheese" (the vowel of which, when pronounced as is usual in English, forces a somewhat smile-shaped mouth).

"Say cheese" is an instruction used by photographers who want their subject to smile. By saying "cheese", most people form their mouths into what appears to be a smile-like shape.

As this practice became ingrained into modern western culture, it has taken on the simple role of a final warning before a photograph is taken. Often subjects will simply use the phrase "say cheese" as a cue to enter their final pose and to smile, neglecting to actually say "cheese".

Over the years, many other words have been used in place of cheese. For comedic effect, a photographer might say "Say ______" filling the blank with a word relevant to the event or action he is photographing (for example, "Say wipe out" during a seaside photograph). Other times a person will fill the blank with an absurdist or seemingly arbitrary word of their choice.

"Say Cheese" is the 18th episode of the fifth season of the CBS situation comedy How I Met Your Mother and 106th episode overall. It originally aired on March 22, 2010.

Say cheese is an instruction used by photographers who want their subject to smile.

Say Cheese may refer to:

• "Say Cheese" (How I Met Your Mother), an episode of How I Met Your Mother
• Say Cheese (novel), English title of the 1983 novel Скажи изюм by Russian writer Vasily Aksyonov