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I was watching Haikyuu dub episodes and in one episode, the coach tells Asahi (one of the players): "Chop chop man bun". What does this sentence mean? I understand the "man bun" part because Asahi has a man bun. But what is "Chop chop man bun"?

Here is a short video for full context.

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    Which part(s) are you confused about exactly? If you just google define chop chop, you get the answer I think you're looking for, "be quick!". Or are you confused about the sentence structure? I notice you're missing a comma: "Chop chop, man bun". You understand that "man bun" is synecdoche, right? If you're learning English, it might be better to ask on English Language Learners instead. You can edit to clarify if needed. For more tips, see How to Ask. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 2:41
  • Man bun, is what the coach is calling the guy. Chop chop means hurry up. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 21:45

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Saying "chop chop" to someone is basically telling them to be quick about whatever it is that they're doing or expected to do. It could also mean asking the person to leave or to move it in case no other context is provided. You can read more about the phrase here.

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    So it's equivalent to "Hurry up, Man Bun" Commented Apr 19, 2022 at 15:40
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    Almost but not quite as politely. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 2:01
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    I don't really think, once you've called someone "Man Bun", that "chop chop" makes it any less polite :-) Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 16:29
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Referring to a person by referring to a part of their anatomy is an example of synecdoche.

Note that "chop chop" is not at all a polite way to ask someone to hurry up.

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    Just for balance, I wouldn't say "chop chop" is "not at all polite". It may often be used in the context of impatience, so the person saying it might be frustrated and lend some impoliteness to their voice because of that, but the phrase itself is pretty neutral. I'd actually say it's a fun linguistic metaphor, in that it refers to the rapid chopping of food, and is equally often used as a polite, fun way to say 'hurry up' without directly telling someone that they are being slow. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 3:24
  • @Neek I would say it's impolite in the same context that "hurry up" would be impolite. I would never use either phrase with a service worker, for example, regardless of my tone of voice. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 11:45
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    @Neek Maybe, but calling the guy "Man Bun" is definitely not at all polite, so as a whole, it is still an impolite statement. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 13:41
  • @Neek I'm not sure it's as "fun" as you think, as your etymology is wrong (see english.stackexchange.com/a/587848/310979). It was common enough, and not really considered impolite, when I was young, but it has definite racist overtones. Commented Apr 20, 2022 at 16:34
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    @DavidK I didn't say it was not impolite, but I implied it was less impolite. In general, using an alternative phrase is less impactful that the real one, in this case "hurry up" could be replaced with "shake a leg", "get a move on", "chop chop", "while we're young", all with some context over the original, and if delivered suitably can be less impolite than simply saying "hurry up". You mention your interactions with service workers, well received but a bit of a tangent to this discussion, the original context of the question was a coach talking to his players with inherent antagonism. Commented Apr 21, 2022 at 3:39
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It is an informal way to tell someone to hurry up. The expression is of Cantonese origin.

chop-chop! exclamation.

[synon. Chinese pidgin, orig. Chinese k’wâi-k’wâi]

hurry up!

  • 1834 [UK] Canton Register 13 May 76/2: We have also [...] ‘chop-chop hurry’ [OED].

……

  • 2013 [UK] K. Sampson Killing Pool 17: Chop-chop, precious, You’ve been summoned!

(GDoS)

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"Chop-chop" is a degrading Americanism used to tell someone who is considered to be an inferior to hurry up, work harder, or work more quickly. It stems from how Chinese immigrants to the US were treated, dating back to the mid-to-late 1800's, at which time "chop chop" was thought by some to mean "hurry up" in Chinese.

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