chop-chop
adverb
No English definition recorded for this entry.
L187502 on Wikidata ↗Wiktionary
adv
Etymology: From Chinese Pidgin English, from Cantonese 速速 (cuk1 cuk1, “quick”). Recorded in English since the 1830s (see citations for adverb). Recorded as a Chinese term in 1795.
- Quickly.
“"Well, more soon, more better; sendee chop chop," I told him.”
“"Sam, when you have catchee chow-chow, I want you chop-chop" (quickly).”
intj
Etymology: From Chinese Pidgin English, from Cantonese 速速 (cuk1 cuk1, “quick”). Recorded in English since the 1830s (see citations for adverb). Recorded as a Chinese term in 1795.
- Used to urge someone to do something quickly.
“We got places to be, pal! Chop chop!”
“(Singapore) chop-chop kalipok”
noun
Etymology: From Chinese Pidgin English, from Cantonese 速速 (cuk1 cuk1, “quick”). Recorded in English since the 1830s (see citations for adverb). Recorded as a Chinese term in 1795.
- Tobacco that is produced and sold without excise (tax), and therefore cheap and illegal.
“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.”