carol so (asker) Sep 4, 2008:

Yes, you are right. And so I think I will use "內用" then. Thank you very much Shirley, thanks to Wenjer as well.

Shirley Lao Sep 4, 2008:

It is hard to say. The term "堂食" is commonly used in Hong Kong and Macao. It really depends on your client's linguistic background.

carol so (asker) Sep 4, 2008:

Thank you so much Shirley. In fact 堂食 is the term I always know of and so I was a bit surprised/ frustrated when I got the response, and would really want to know if there's a better term for it.

Wenjer Leuschel (X) Sep 4, 2008:

Aha, "Eaten in" or buy "take-away" from a McDonald's. As Shirley said, we do name them "内用" or "外带" respectively.

Shirley Lao Sep 4, 2008:

Contrary to what the Singaporean told you, I did find some websites using 堂食 for "eat in" or "for here".
http://www.soyabean.com.sg/Chinese.php

carol so (asker) Sep 4, 2008:

No, let's take this example, which is much clearer:

"Either eaten in or buy take-away from a McDonald’s restaurant"

Wenjer Leuschel (X) Sep 4, 2008:

Hi, are you asking about "eat in" in the phrase "you either eat there, take with you, EAT IN THE CAR or have delivered to you"?

carol so (asker) Sep 4, 2008:

Thank you Frank but I was thinking about a term/ noun phrase, as there is another sentence like this : "Either eaten in or buy take-away from a McDonald’s restaurant", which is one of the options in the the answers within the questionnaire.

Shirley Lao Sep 4, 2008:

You should direct your question to a Singaporean. I don't know how the Singaporeans say this term in Chinese. "Eat in" is called 內用 in Taiwan. Good Luck!

carol so (asker) Sep 4, 2008:

Singaporean. I was considering to use 堂食, which is quite a common term in Hong Kong and China, but the client said s/he doesnt know this term and it didnt sound quite right.

Shirley Lao Sep 4, 2008:

What is the target audience (Hong Kong, Taiwan, China or others) of this translation?