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chops
bust (one's) chops
1. (acting upon oneself) To exert a significant amount of energy or work very hard to do, accomplish, or complete something. I've been busting my chops all night long to get this presentation ready for tomorrow's meeting. She's going to have to bust her chops if she wants a place on the varsity team.
2. (acting upon someone else) To harass, nag, or upbraid someone to do, accomplish, or complete something. The boss is busting everyone's chops to get the project ready by next week. Quit busting my chops! I'll get it done eventually!
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!
flap (one's) chops
To chatter or blather. Quit flapping your chops—I need some quiet so I can think! Whenever Charlie starts to flap his chops, I can't get in a word!
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.
lick one's chops
Fig. to show one's eagerness to do something, especially to eat something. We could tell from the way the boys were licking their chops that they really wanted a turn at riding the motorcycle. Fred started licking his chops when he smelled the turkey roasting in the oven.
lick your chops
to be eager to do something that you think will be satisfying or pleasant Their team was so much better than ours that when they played us, they were just licking their chops.
Etymology: based on the literal meaning of lick your chops (to lick your lips when thinking of something good to eat)
break one's ass
Also, break or bust one's ass or balls or butt or chops .
1. Exert oneself to the utmost, try extremely hard, as in
I've been breaking my ass to finish early. This expression is considered vulgar slang; both
ass, for backside or buttocks, and
balls, for male genitals, are rude;
butt, for buttocks, and
chops, for either the mouth or the legs, are informal and emphatic but not quite as offensive. For a more polite synonym, see
break one's back. [
Slang; first half of 1900s]
2. break someone's ass. Also, bust someone's chops. Thrash or harass someone, as in Jim threatened to break Tim's ass, or The boss broke his workers' chops to improve service. [ Vulgar slang; mid-1900s]
lick one's chops
Also, lick one's lips. Anticipate with great pleasure. For example, The kids were licking their chops as Mother described the family vacation plans, or I couldn't help but lick my lips when she talked about the menu. Both expressions allude to anticipating a tasty morsel of food. The second is the older, dating from about 1500 and used interchangeably with lick one's fingers, now seldom heard. The first also served as 1930s jazz slang for warming up, chops meaning "the jaw or mouth" (a usage dating from the 1300s).
bust (someone's) chops
1. To scold or insult someone.
2. To disappoint or defeat someone.
3. To hold a building contractor to the letter of an agreement.
lick (one's) chops
To anticipate delightedly.