Know where the term ‘Chop-chop’ comes from? From the shores of the South China Sea back in the 18th century. It’s Cantonese Pidgin English for the Chinese term k’wai-k’wai. We all know what chop-chop means, right? “Get to it.” “Hurry up.” “Finish quickly.”

It may surprise you, but ‘Chop-chop’ as a concept is enormously useful in writing text for your website, brochure, or company newsletter. Think about the mind of your readers. Most people don’t read word for word, especially not the text on your web site or in your brochure. Like you’re doing right now, they read by scanning.
Hence, ‘chop-chop’: “Get right to it and please the reader as he scans.” Say what the reader wants to know. Nothing more, nothing less. You can do this easily by ‘chopping’ the extra words out of your text. First, write what you want to say and then lay it aside for a day or two. The second time you read it look for the words that don’t need to be there, and DELETE them. This is how you reduce the ‘verbiage’ and get right to the point. (BTW, Merriam-Webster defines verbiage as a profusion of words usually of little or obscure content).

Getting right to the point helps readers grasp what your message is, quickly. They are scanning to find the nuts and bolts. They want to know how they can gain satisfaction from your product or service. So make it easy for them. Don’t complicate your message with words that don’t need to be there.