T-learning # Idiom
Speak Like a Native

cheesy

Choose the correct definition a, b or c.

a) funny

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b) fancy

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c) tasteless

Well done ! That’s the right answer.

cheesy’ means of poor quality, banal or trite, in poor taste.

French translation

risible, de mauvais goût, niais, syrupeux

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Examples in context

‘There’s dancing too (there has to be dancing too) when Thrill Collins take to the main stage on Sunday with their tongue in cheek skiffle take on cheesy hits of the 80s and 90s.’

BBC News, 14 June 2012

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’Do women really like ’cheesy’ music ? Or does society decide what’s cheesy and cast that judgment on less powerful groups ? Answer : Let’s be frank, most people think the music they don’t like is crap. You think Katy Perry’s music is crap because you don’t like it, and society calls it crap because of the people who listen to it. The cultural expressions of stigmatised groups are often denigrated. It’s not confined to music – just look at language and art. ’

The Guardian, 30 July 2012

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Everyday usage

Such cheesy lines like that are half the reason the movie Top Gun has stuck in people’s minds.

I can’t believe you like soap operas. They are so cheesy.


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