I have seen that people use the expression "Mahlzeit" before eating, but I also have heard them use in another occasions, even though I did not understand at the time why.
- What are the use cases for this expression?
- Is there any generic translation that works for every occasion?
- What is the reason for writing it like that? "mal" seems to be a modal particle, with no special meaning, but "Zeit" meant just "time". Not sure what it has to do with "eating".
UPDATE
As mentioned in the comments, I got the spelling wrong. It is "mahlzeit", not "mal zeit". I have updated it in the question.
Gesegnete Mahlzeit
. – Bernhard Döbler Sep 3 '19 at 9:51