chop

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be for the chop

1. To be on the verge of losing one's job. You'll be for the chop if you keep coming into work late.

2. To be on the verge of being eliminated, as of a service or program. Our charity program is definitely for the chop if the hospital loses funding.

See also: chop

chop and change

To continually change one's course of action, to the confusion or irritation of others. Primarily heard in UK, Australia. When we chop and change this much, it frustrates our customers. We need to set a schedule and stick to it.

See also: and, change, chop

chop back

To prune something, such as trees, bushes, or plants. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "back." I need to chop back this tree because it's so overgrown that I can barely open my car door anymore.

chop chop

interjection Hurry up! Move faster! This is a major client, so I need the report done right now, chop chop! Chop chop, people, we need to make 20 more before we're done.

See also: chop

chop down

1. To fell; to cut down. Usually refers to cutting down a tree. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "down." We had to chop down that old tree to keep it from falling onto our house. It would be a shame to have to chop that old oak down just to make room for a parking lot.

2. To destroy or reject something. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "down." Now that the CEO has chopped down our idea, we need to come up with something better.

chop logic

To argue in a tedious or pedantic way. I can't stand the way he chops logic! You can't have a conversation without him turning it into some tiresome fight!

See also: chop

chop off

1. To cut something off of something else. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "off." We had to chop off that branch because it was in danger of falling on our house. I decided to chop my hair off because I needed a change in my life.

2. To stop someone abruptly while they are talking. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "off." I had to chop him off because his boring story was putting me to sleep.

See also: chop, off

chop out

To remove something, as by slicing or cutting (literally or figuratively). A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "out." When you edit his piece, be sure not to chop all the personality out of it.

chop shop

A location where stolen vehicles are disassembled so that their parts can be sold. We'll never get our car back if the thieves have already taken it to a chop-shop.

chop up

1. Literally, to cut or slice something into smaller pieces. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "up." Can you chop up the onions for the stew? Chop up the lumber so we can use it for firewood.

2. By extension, to split something into smaller sections. A noun or pronoun can be used between "chop" and "up." This paragraph was way too long, so I chopped it up.

get the chop

1. To lose one's job. You're going to get the chop if you keep coming into work late.

2. To be eliminated, as of a service or program. Your know our charity program will be the first to get the chop if the hospital loses funding.

not much chop

Not as good as what was expected, required, or demanded; not satisfactory or adequate. Primarily heard in Australia, Canada. Jim, I know you've had a lot on your plate, but these reports just aren't much chop. I used to eat there all the time, but to be honest their food hasn't been much chop recently.

See also: chop, much, not

on the chopping block

1. Planned or about to be discarded or done away with. The president-elect has made it clear that several of his predecessor's policies will be on the chopping block as soon as he takes office. They told me that my project is on the chopping because of how many delays there have been.

2. In imminent danger of losing one's job. Hundreds of people will be on the chopping block if this factory shuts down.

pork chop

1. A thick cut of meat from a pig. Often used in the plural when it is prepared as a meal. Well, at least sit down and have a pork chop with us before you go out! Mom said that she's making pork chops for dinner tonight, so don't be late!

2. offensive slang A black person who acts submissively toward white people.

What am I, chopped liver?

cliché A semi-serious expression of frustration, anger, or indignation at having been overlooked and/or regarded as inferior. The phrase likely originated as a part of Jewish humor, referring to the serving of chopped liver as a common side dish (thus overlooked in favor of the main course), the taste of which many do not find appealing. A: "Mary is so smart, talented, and creative, I wish she were my best friend!" B: "And what am I then, chopped liver?" They said they wanted to hire someone else for the job. What am I, chopped liver?

chop someone off

Fig. to stop someone in the middle of a sentence or speech. (Abruptly, as if actually chopping or cutting.) I'm not finished. Don't chop me off! The moderator chopped off the speaker.

See also: chop, off

chop (someone or something) (up) (into something)

to cut something up into something smaller, perhaps with an axe or a cleaver. The butcher chopped up the beef loin into small fillets. I chopped up the onion into little pieces.

chop something back

to prune vegetation; to reduce the size of plants by cutting. Why don't you chop those bushes back while you have the shears out? Chop back the bushes, please.

chop something down

1. Lit. to cut down something, such as a tree, with an ax. Please don't chop my favorite tree down. Don't chop down this tree!

2. Fig. to destroy something, such as a plan or an idea. The committee chopped the idea down in its early stages. They chopped down a great idea!

chop something off (of) something

and chop something off

to cut something off something, as with an axe or saw. (Of is usually retained before pronouns.) We chopped the dead branches off the tree. You should chop off the other branch.

See also: chop, off

get the axe

get the chop

1. If someone gets the axe or gets the chop, they lose their job. Note: `Axe' is spelled `ax' in American English. Business managers, executives and technical staff are all getting the axe. I've often wondered whether I'd have got the chop, if I'd stayed long enough to find out. Note: You can also say that someone is given the axe or is given the chop. She was last night given the axe from the hit TV show.

2. If something such as a project or part of a business gets the axe or gets the chop, it is ended suddenly. Note: `Axe' is spelled `ax' in American English. That is one of the TV shows likely to get the axe. Services to major towns and cities across England are getting the chop or being reduced. Note: You can also say that something is given the axe or is given the chop. A few days previously, the Westoe Colliery, the last pit in the region, was given the axe.

be for the chop

BRITISH, INFORMAL

COMMON

1. If someone is for the chop, they are about to lose their job. There are rumours that he's for the chop. Note: You can also say that someone faces the chop with the same meaning. He must play by next week or face the chop for the Challenge Cup final. Note: You can say that someone gets the chop, meaning they lose their job. He had hardly settled into his new job when he got the chop due to cutbacks. Note: You can also say that someone is trying to avoid the chop when they are trying not to lose their job. They are turning up to work earlier, and leaving later, in a bid to avoid the chop.

2. If something is for the chop, it is not going to be allowed to continue or remain. He won't say which programmes are for the chop. Note: You can say that something gets the chop, meaning it is not allowed to continue or remain. Some of the scenes that got the chop in America will be put back in for the Australian release. Note: The chop is also used in other structures and expressions with a similar meaning. Weekly broadcasts are now threatened with the chop. These are loss-making factories that deserve the chop. Compare with get the axe.

See also: chop

chop and change

BRITISH

COMMON If someone chops and changes, they keep changing their plans, often when it is not necessary. After chopping and changing for the first year, they have settled down to a stable system of management. All this chopping and changing serves no useful purpose. Note: This expression was originally used to refer to people buying and selling goods. To `chop' meant to trade or barter, and `change' came from `exchange'.

See also: and, change, chop

not much chop

AUSTRALIAN, INFORMAL

If something or someone is not much chop, they are not very good at something or are of poor quality. The horses he beat were not much chop. My husband's not much chop when it comes to sharing the housework. Note: The usual British expression is not much cop.

See also: chop, much, not

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

chop and change

change your opinions or behaviour repeatedly and abruptly, often for no good reason. British informal

Both chop and change originally had the sense of ‘barter’, ‘exchange’, or ‘buy and sell’, but as this sense of chop became dated the meaning of the whole expression shifted to its present one.

See also: and, change, chop

chop logic

argue in a tiresomely pedantic way; quibble.

Chop is here used in the 16th-century sense meaning ‘bandy words’. This sense is now obsolete, and the sense of chop used in this phrase was later wrongly understood as ‘cut something into small pieces’.

See also: chop

not much chop

no good; not up to much. Australian & New Zealand informal

The sense of chop in this expression originated in the Hindi word chap meaning ‘official stamp’. Europeans in the Far East extended the use of the word to cover documents such as passports to which an official stamp or impression was attached and in China it came to mean ‘branded goods’. From this, in the late 19th century, chop was used to refer to something that had ‘class’ or had been validated as genuine or good.

1947 Dan Davin The Gorse Blooms Pale I know it's not been much chop so far but we're only getting started.

See also: chop, much, not

be for the ˈchop

(British English, informal)
1 (of a person) be likely to be dismissed from a job: Who’s next for the chop?
2 (of a plan, project, etc.) be likely to be stopped or ended

This refers to chopping (= cutting) a person’s head off with an axe as a punishment.

See also: chop

ˌchop and ˈchange

(British English, informal) change your plans, opinions or methods too often: I wish he’d make up his mind — I’m tired of all this chopping and changing.

See also: and, change, chop

get/be given the ˈchop

(British English, informal)
1 (of a person) be dismissed from a job: The whole department has been given the chop.
2 (of a plan, project, etc.) be stopped or ended: Three more schemes have got the chop.

See above note at be for the chop.

not much ˈchop

(AustralE, New Zealand, informal) not very good or useful: The movie’s not much chop. ♢ I’ve baked a few cakes, but I’m not much chop in the kitchen.This comes from a Hindi word for an official seal. It was used in China and other Asian countries to refer to goods of a certain quality and from this came to mean ‘good quality’ in general.

See also: chop, much, not

chop off

To cut something short by or as if by chopping; curtail something: The barber chopped my ponytail off. The butcher chopped off a hunk of meat for me.

See also: chop, off

chop out

To remove something by chopping or cutting; excise something: I chopped out a big piece of wood from the log. The editor always chops all the jokes out of the manuscripts.

chop up

1. To cut something into small pieces with a sharp tool: The cook chopped up the parsley. I chopped an onion up and added it to the soup.

2. To divide something into smaller segments: The editor chopped the manuscript up into distinct chapters. I chopped up the long drive by making frequent stops.

chop

n. a rude remark; a cutting remark. That was a rotten chop! Take it back!

chopped liver

n. someone or something worthless. And who am I? Chopped liver?

chop-shop

n. a place where stolen cars are cut or broken up into car parts for resale. The state is cracking down on these chop-shops.

on the chopping block

mod. in serious and threatening straits. Until this is resolved, our necks are on the chopping block.