chop-chop

English

Alternative forms

• chop chop

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

Audio (US)

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Interjection

chop-chop

1. Used to urge someone to do something quickly

Translations

hurry up

• Arabic: please add this translation if you can
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 快點 (cmn), 快点 (cmn) (kuàidiǎn)

• Czech: please add this translation if you can
• Dutch: vlug een beetje (nl)!
• Finnish: hopi hopi, hop hop, mars mars
• French: vite-vite (fr), grouille-grouille ! (fr) grouille-toi ! (fr), magne-toi ! (fr), et on se dépêche ! (fr), plus vite que ça !, on va pas coucher (fr) là !
• German: mach schnell (de), dalli (de)

• Hungarian: gyorsan (hu)
• Italian: please add this translation if you can
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Korean: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Portuguese: depressa (pt)
• Russian: быстро-быстро (ru) (býstro-býstro)
• Spanish: presto (es), pronto (es)
• Swedish: please add this translation if you can
• Vietnamese: đi đi mau (vi), đi đi (vi)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.

Translations to be checked

• Czech: honem (cs)

Adverb

chop-chop (not comparable)

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

chop-chop (uncountable)

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’).