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NPR: Is the term “chop chop” racist?

Hop SingGet over here, chop chop.

The term chop chop generally means to hurry up, but it’s usually directed towards someone you might consider a subordinate or even subservient.

NPR traced the origins of the term and found it has an Asian root. It comes from the Cantonese word kap which means to make haste.

It has also been directed toward Asians.

NPR writes:

The utterance “chop-chop” would also become closely associated with class over time, and was almost always said by someone powerful to someone “below.” A good example of this can be found in William C. Hunter’s , where he notes that “[w]hen a coolie is sent on an errand requiring haste, he is told to go ‘chop-chop.’ “

The term, however, is not exclusively used towards Asians. It’s also used in the military and by Koreans during the war as a slang term for food.

6 COMMENTS

  1. I would not call it racist, even if sometimes used by a superiors toward subordinates. Its basically Pidgin-English as a simplified means of communications by both parties using different complex languages.

  2. As usual, leave it to NPR to slant the story toward racism. First, I’ll point out that any phrase used to tell a subordinate to do something quickly is probably going to be offensive. “Bill, I need you to deliver this, *so move it/let’s go/right now/hurry up*.” So “chop-chop” isn’t any more or less offensive.

    If you research the actual history, you would learn that it was a term used by sailors as far back as at least the 1600’s. When they began doing more business in China the phrase then became part of Pidkin Cantonese……meaning a blend of English and Cantonese that occurred between two cultures for the purpose of communication. It first documented in the 1800’s.

    So, in fact, the term came from sailors and was picked up by the Chinese and incorporated into their vernacular, not vice-versa. It is not racist. I tell my kids/coworkers and anyone else, “Hey, we better chop-chop if we’re going to get there on time.” No one melts, no one screams in horror, no one cries because of subordinately hurt feelings. LOL

    • NPR did nothing of the sort. They answered a question with unbiased info, none of which would lead someone to the conclusion you say they insinuate.

  3. I remember the saying in old movies supposedly in the Orient and I’d never say something like that to anyone these days.

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