Say, "Cheese!"

Idiomatic expressions are rather fun to use. They add color and personality to the language, separating speech from the formality of grammar text book education. Idioms are informal words or expressions that don’t translate literally into English and they cannot be understood from the individual meanings of their elements.

Food is often the subject of idioms in English so let's talk cheese!

A very important person or a leader (a VIP) is known as the big cheese, a noun. Something that is cheesy, an adjective, is not authentic, like a big cheesy grin, or it could describe something of cheap or poor quality, such as a cheesy motel room or a cheesy outfit. Are you posing for a picture? Say, "Cheese!" is an expression used by photographers to get people to smile because everyone's mouth widens into a big smile when they say it -- but not a cheesy grin, I hope.