Talk:Calorie/@comment-176.83.177.178-20180507154618/@comment-39454372-20190513134526

It works as a play on words in Filipino (can confirm as a Filipino myself).

In its more innocent interpretation, "Mama, papa-'tay" can simply be her calling out to her parents. Mama and Papa mean mom and dad, respectively, just like in English as usual. The extension " 'tay " is short for "tatay", which translates to dad. Hence, the first translation for the line is "Mom, dad-dad".

The second way to read this line would be "Mama, papatay". The root word of "papatay" is "patay", which when used in a verb means to turn off or kill.

''/* The word "patay" in itself is not a verb, but is instead a noun which means "dead" or "turned off". However, it functions as the root word of several verbs which mean "to bring to the state of being [dead/turned off]", which is partially due to the nature of our language. */''

Adding the prefix "pa-" to some root words can be interpreted as one asking a favor or request, and is similar to adding the word "please" to an imperative verb. In this case, "papatay" would mean "please kill" or "please turn off", as can be found in the other translations of this line.

[Additional Context] The second translation ("Mom, please kill") may then be brought into focus. The vagueness of the word "papatay" usually means that either/both of the direct object and the indirect object can be implied purely by the context of how the word is used. In this case, the direct object may be her (first person), which technically completes the translation as "Mom, please kill [me]."

sorry for replying to a year-old comment, just meant to confirm the other reply