Pay the bill - 结账 (jié zhànɡ)

“Check, please.”  

“服务员，买单！”（fú wù yuán ， mǎi dān ！）

 After finishing eating in a restaurant, Chinese people usually say this sentence to the waiter/waitress. “买单（mǎi dān） ” literally means buy the bill. But it doesn’t mean we want to buy the sheet but pay the bill.

“买单（mǎi dān） ” is also called “埋单(mái dān)”. The pronunciations of “买” and ”埋” are both "mai". “埋(mái)”means to bury in Mandarin, but it’s different in Cantonese.

“埋单(mái dān)” was originated from Cantonese. In Cantonese, one of the meanings of “埋(mái)” is to get close to. “埋来(mái lái)” means to come here. Therefore, when we say“埋单(mái dān)” to the waiter/waitress is calling them to come, and we are paying the bill.

There is another way to explain it. “埋(mái)” also means to get together and settle accounts in Cantonese. For example, “埋口(mái kǒu, mái kǒu, wound healing)”,“埋堆(mái duī, friends get together)”. For businessmen, the annual closing was called “埋年(mái nián)” before. For Restaurants, paying the bill after the meals is “埋单(mái dān)”.

For these years, the culture of the south has been spreading to the north. “埋单(mái dān)” became a nationwide word gradually. But as people from other provinces are not familiar with Cantonese, when they hear ”埋(mái)” they think it is “买(mǎi), to buy”. So when you want to pay the bill, saying either“买单（mǎi dān） ”or “埋单(mái dān)” works. Certainly, you can also use a more formal way to express paying the bill —— 结账(jié zhànɡ).

Words 生词

fú wù yuán 

服 务 员        ： waiter/waitress

mǎi dān / mái dān / jié zhànɡ 

 买  单  / 埋  单  /  结  账 :          Check / Pay the bill

Supervisor: Crystal Huang

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