Once I watched the infamous Da Shan ( 大山) on TV in Beijing, and he told a story about a Chinese man who wanted to travel abroad and, naturally, wanted to know how to buy stuff. So he asked his friend how to ask what something costs (多少钱?) in English. His friend told him just to say:

好妈吃? (hao3 ma3 chi1)

but when he went there, he couldn’t quite remember, and so said:

好妈吃? (hao3 chi1 ma? — does this taste good?)

and then

吃好了吗? (chi1 hao3 le ma? — has it all been eaten?)

Same basic idea…