You've heard of "霸王餐" (bà wáng cān), right? But have you ever heard of someone getting into a fight after a free meal? Well, believe it or not, a notorious food thief, got away with a whopping 2.4 million yuan worth of free meals! You've probably already seen the discussion about those 2.4 million yuan worth of free meals on the internet. But today, we're all about how to say "霸王餐" in English. Impress your friends with some fancy vocabulary!
Let's get straight to the point: how do you express this "霸王餐" phenomenon in English? Well, there are quite a few ways.
Dine and dash
"Excuse me manager Bob, I just had a dine and dash on table 16. I walked away for a second to refill their drink and when I came back they were gone."
Dine and ditch
We were driving home and we were talking about him and his girlfriend's little brother dining and ditching a couple of weeks ago so we figured we would try it out.
Chew and screw
I just had a steak dinner at the Four Seasons.
Expensive?
Nah, I chewed and screwed.
Eat and run
I don't invite John to dinner anymore because he always has some excuse to eat and run.
Do a runner
The teenagers did a runner as soon as the cab stopped, leaving the driver to foot the bill.
Beat the check
"买单" (mǎi dān) translates to "check" in English, so "beat the check" means "to skip paying the bill." (Beat is often used to express the idea of getting away from something, like "beat the traffic". Also, Michael's "Beat It" is an example of using "beat" in this sense.)
There you have it! Armed with these English expressions, you'll be ready to discuss "霸王餐" with your friends like a pro. Remember, a free meal is a great thing - as long as you pay for it!