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Glite Dictionary
to buay tank

to buay tank

9.9
To do very badly at something, often said jokingly
  • phrasal verb
  • Slang
translation icon : fracasar
  • He studied all night but still buay tanked the exam.

Examples

  • If you don't practice, you'll completely buay tank in the competition.

  • Don't buay tank this exam, study hard!

  • Everyone laughed when she joked that she would definitely buay tank the interview.

  • He really buay tanked that presentation.

  • Everyone laughed when she joked that she would definitely buay tank the interview.

  • He studied all night but still buay tanked the exam.

  • If you don't practice, you'll completely buay tank in the competition.

Synonyms

bust
vsto buay tank
  • Informal
102 4.5

A complete failure of an event or plan

is a casual humorous label for low quality or poor showing
flop
vsto buay tank
44 4.3

A project or event that does not succeed

is a slang humorous rating for doing badly rather than an outright collapse
flopper
vsto buay tank
  • Offensive
1 8.2

Something that fails completely

is used as a slang joking rating for poor performance rather than formal failure
suckage
vsto buay tank
  • NSFW
1 9.9

A very bad or disappointing quality

is a playful slang rating focusing on bad quality rather than formal failure

Antonyms

success
∞ 1.0

Getting what you want after working hard

excellence
150 3.2

Very high quality or skill that makes one stand out

How Bad

failure
557 1.3
to buay tank
  • Slang
9.9
dud
  • Informal
14 4.7

Surface Forms

buay tank infinitive
buay tanked past
buay tanked past participle
buay tanking present participle
buay tanks third person singular

Morphology

buay + tank

The verb 'tank' does mean 'to fail', but the element 'buay' is not a standard English word (not found in the dictionary) and appears to be a non-English slang particle whose function is unclear. Because the overall sense is regional/slang and the contribution of 'buay' cannot be predicted from its constituents, a B1 learner who knows 'tank' would still be unlikely to derive the idiomatic meaning without exposure.

Etymology

Buay tank may come from mixing a Chinese word buay meaning 'cannot' with the English word tank, which is slang for 'to fail badly'. So the phrase paints the image of someone who 'cannot' perform and then fails, and today it means 'to fail' or do very poorly.