What is "打么台"?

[chavalit]

I've come across 打么台 in the following sentence, but have no idea what it means. I know that basically, 打 = beat, 么 = suffix (e.g. 什么)，台 = platform. But putting them together doesn't make sense to me. Help is appreciated.

打完么台 (当地的习俗，客人来了，不论啥时候，哪怕马上就该吃饭了，也要先打么台，不外乎一碗煎蛋面或几个醪糟鸡蛋) 开始干活。

[terrybogard]

When you are working for some time, then you stopped for some refreshments, which is so called 打么台.

[msittig]

http://www.google.com/search?q=“打么台”+“什么意思”

So it's eating a light meal that falls outside of the scheduled three meals of the day, usually prepared for a guest?

From the only link yielded by the search I linked above:

两种解释:一种是指在早饭和午饭之间加一顿餐.比如在农村请人干重体力活的时候,到半上午的时候匠人会很累,主人家会加一顿不算正式的餐,大多是煎蛋面,汤圆鸡蛋....,这顿饭就叫么台.吃饭的时候就叫:打么台.

例句:师傅,先休息一下,打了么台再继续干.

Seems to be Sichuan-dialect.

[chavalit]

Thanks a lot!

[xiaocai]

This word is quite common in 四川. I'm not really very sure what the actual characters are, but I think it was supposed to be 打幺台/dayaotai if you really want to write it down. Basically it means an additional meal before lunch as a bonus to hired labourers.