chopping it up
Shooting the breeze
Chopping it up means having a casual, animated conversation—talking back and forth, trading stories or opinions.
The phrase evokes the rhythm of rapid exchange, words flying like a knife through vegetables: We were just chopping it up about the game.
Common in informal American English, especially in hip-hop culture and Black vernacular.
- minceCut into fragments
- diceMarked cubes for chance
- brainstormSpontaneous idea generation
- break it downExplain in simpler steps
- slicePortion cut off
chat · gab · small talk · cut · chunk · discuss · banter · talking smack · powwow · exchange · converse · shoot the breeze · dialogue · carve · shred · kick it · rap session · freestyle
chopping it uppresenting
Displaying to an audience
negotiating · debating · lecturing · testifying · holding forth
chopping it upkeeping to oneself
Staying socially isolated
stonewalling · clamming up · isolating · withdrawing · staying quiet
chopping it uparguing
Verbal conflict between parties
fighting · beefing · having words · going at it · quarreling