Chop-chop

Pronunciation

Alternative forms

• chop chop

Origin

From Chinese Pidgin English, from Cantonese 急急 (gāpgāp, "quick").

Full definition of chop-chop

Interjection

1. Used to urge someone to do something quickly

Adverb

1. (slang) Quickly.
• 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, p. 13:‘And another beer! But cold this time, hear that, boy? Muchee coldee, and bring it chop chop.’

Noun

1. (Australia, informal) Tobacco that is produced and sold without excise (tax), and therefore cheap and illegal.
• 1944, Australian House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, Volume 265, page 30968,We are here today to try and do the impossible: to stop the chop chop industry.
• 2002 November 11, Major ‘chop chop’ seizure in Northern Queensland, Australian Taxation Office, media release.
• 2007, Martin Hughes, The Slow Guide: Melbourne, unnumbered page,Attitudes to tobacco mean it′s virtually sold under the counter (and we′re not talking about ‘chop chop’).