Translation guide
The English word "chop" has several distinct meanings. This guide covers the most common ones for learners: cutting food, chopping wood, a quick strike, and idiomatic uses like "chop and change."
To cut food, especially vegetables or meat, into smaller pieces using a knife.
General verb for chopping or mincing food into small pieces. Often used for vegetables, herbs, etc.
玉ねぎを細かく刻んでください。
Please chop the onion finely.
The basic verb for 'cut'. Can be used for chopping when the cutting action is clear from context, but less specific than 刻む.
にんじんを小さく切って。
Chop the carrots into small pieces.
To chop into chunks or rough pieces, often used for meat or fish. Implies a less precise cut.
鶏肉をぶつ切りにしてください。
Please chop the chicken into chunks.
To split wood using an axe or similar tool.
The standard phrase for chopping firewood. Literally 'split firewood'.
彼は毎朝、薪を割っている。
He chops wood every morning.
Literally 'cut a tree'. Can refer to felling a tree or chopping wood, but is broader and less specific than 薪を割る.
裏庭で木を切っている。
I'm chopping wood in the backyard.
A swift, cutting strike, often with the hand or a tool.
Loanword from English, commonly used in martial arts or wrestling contexts for a 'chop' strike.
彼は相手にチョップを食らわせた。
He delivered a chop to his opponent.
Literally 'hand sword', a karate chop. More formal or technical term.
General verb for 'hit' or 'strike'. Can be used for a chopping motion if context is clear, but not specific.
彼は板を手で打った。
He chopped the board with his hand.
To keep changing one's mind, plans, or loyalties frequently.
Describes a person who changes their mind easily. Not a direct translation of 'chop and change' but conveys the meaning naturally.
彼は気が変わりやすくて、計画がなかなか決まらない。
He chops and changes so much that we can't settle on a plan.
Colloquial phrase meaning to change one's policy or direction frequently and whimsically. コロコロ is an onomatopoeia for something rolling or changing easily.
あの会社は方針をコロコロ変えるから、信用できない。
That company chops and changes its policies, so I can't trust them.
To be fired from a job or to have something terminated.
Common idiom meaning 'to be fired' or 'get the sack'. Literally 'become a neck'.
彼は仕事でミスをして首になった。
He made a mistake at work and got the chop.
Formal term for 'be dismissed' or 'be laid off'.
不況のため、多くの社員が解雇された。
Many employees got the chop due to the recession.
The loanword チョップ is only used for a striking motion (like in wrestling or martial arts). For chopping food, use 刻む or 切る.
野菜をチョップする
chop vegetables (unnatural)
The karate chop is powerful.