The story
From Hokkien 𣍐 / 袂 /𫧃 / 袂 (bōe, “cannot”) + Malay tahan (“to endure; to withstand; to bear”), which in Hokkien would be 袂打限 (bōe tá-hān). The equivalent expression in Malay is tak boleh tahan.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
buay tahan
Today it means: Cannot endure or stand something any longer. Full definition →