buy-back eat

i'm going to paraphrase this story which a friend shared when she and her local friend took their English friend out to dinner.

seeing that the popular hawker center was full, the local women exclaimed,"aiyah no seat, let's buy-back eat." the Englishman was stumped, he asked the girls to repeat themselves coz he was unsure of their new dining plans. they repeated, "buy-back eat lah!" annoyed that their guest was unspontaneous.

he asked for clarification, and the girls explained. he then went on his English way to correct the girls about how to phrase this correctly in proper sentences. the girls listened, then in unison said, " ya lah, buy-back eat."

only in singapore do we reduce,"lets order our food and request for it packed so that we can dine at home." to simply "buy-back eat." guess to our foreign guests, this very local phrase doesn't pack any punch or for that matter, any food either.

bon appetit!