"Chop chop" is a phrase first noted in the interaction between Cantonese and English people in British-occupied south China.^[1] It spread through Chinese workers at sea and was adopted by British seamen.^[2] "Chop chop" means "hurry" and suggests that something should be done now and without delay. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "chopsticks" originates from this same root.^[3]

The term may have its origins in the South China Sea, as a Pidgin English version of the Cantonese term chok chok (Cantonese: 速速; jyutping: cuk1 cuk1) which in turn is similar in usage to the Mandarin term k'wâi-k'wâi (Chinese: 快快; pinyin: kuài kuài)^[2] or may have originated from Malay.^[4]