Actual potentially useful fact #6: English-speaking photographers often use the phrase “say cheese” when asking people to smile for a picture, as pronunciation of the “ee” results in something close to a smile. Other cultures and languages do the same, but with different words and phrases. Mandarin (China) – 茄子 “qiézi” (eggplant) Mandarin (Taiwan) – 七 “qī” (seven) Danish – sig appelsin (say orange) Dutch – lachen (laugh) Korean – 김치 (kimchi) Bulgarian – Зеле “zele!” (cabbage) French – ouistiti (marmoset – a type of monkey) Spanish (Spain) – decid patata (say potato) Spanish (Latin America) – diga wiskey (say whisky) Indonesian – buncis (green beans) Japanese – chiizu (in imitation of English) Portuguese (Brazil) – digam x (say x) Portuguese (Portugal) – olha o passarinho (watch the birdie) Swedish – säg omelett (say omelet) Hungarian – csíz (a small bird) Hindi - पनीर “paneer” (a type of cheese, similar to cottage) Iranian Arabic – سیب “sib” (apple) Slovak – syr (cheese) German – Spaghetti Käsekuchen (cheese cake) Wo ist das Vögelchen? (where’s the birdie) Ameisen-Scheisse (ant shit) Greek – tiri (cheese) Some of these are more pervasive than others. While American culture has spread the English language across the world, most people just “say cheese” so many of these sayings are isolated.
Posted on: Sun, 11 Aug 2013 00:33:56 +0000