Say cheese
When you take a photo of your friends or family, what do you normally say if you want to make them smile? " Say cheese " is commonly used in different cultures although it is an English phrase.
While posing with a happy face in front of a camera takes only a couple of seconds nowadays, photography was very expensive and time-consuming in the 19th century. Thus, the photographer would tell people to sit still and keep their faces neutral.
We do not know when and why " say cheese " became a photographer's instruction. In terms of phonology, the pronunciation of the word " cheese " helps our lips to expose our teeth and form a grin on our face.
The first written record of " say cheese " appeared in an American newspaper, The Big Spring Herald, in 1943. During a photoshoot, Ambassador Joseph E. Davies, suggested " saying ‘cheese’" as it is an automatic smile. He had probably learned this phrase from President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
當你給朋友或家人拍照的時候，如果你想令他們笑，你通常說甚麼呢？Say cheese雖然是英文短語，卻在不同文化中普遍使用。
現今在照相機前面擺出一副開心的樣子拍照只花兩秒的時間，但是攝影在十九世紀是非常昂貴和耗費時間的。因此，攝影師會告訴人們一動不動地坐著，而且要木無表情。
我們不知道say cheese何時及為甚麼成為了攝影師的指令。從語音學而言，cheese一字的發音幫助我們的嘴唇露出牙齒，並且使我們的臉上展現笑意。
Say cheese的首個文字記錄出現於一九四三年美國報章《大泉先驅報》（The Big Spring Herald）。約瑟・戴維斯（Joseph Davies）大使在記者給他拍攝專業照片期間，提議「說『cheese』」，因為它是一個自然的笑容。大使可能是從富蘭克林・德・羅斯福（Franklin D. Roosevelt）總統那裡學到這個短語的。
捐款支持公教報 http://kkp.org.hk/donation
