cheeky chops
- noun
- Baby Talk
- The little boy was always making funny faces, earning him the nickname cheeky chops.
Examples
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Whenever he told a joke, his friends called him cheeky chops for his bold sense of humor.
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Cheer up, cheeky chops.
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She loved to tease her brother, who was her cheeky chops, always up to playful mischief.
Synonyms
4
6.9
A person who acts silly to make others laugh
1
9.9
A person who acts silly and playful
1
8.8
A man who is playful and a little rude in a friendly way people like
A person, often young, who gossips and says rude things about others
Antonyms
How Cheeky
Surface Forms
Morphology
The adjective 'cheeky' (boldly impudent) combined with 'chops' (informal for cheeks/jaw) creates a playful nickname referring to someone who is cheeky; the meaning is directly derivable from the constituents. This follows a common adjective + body-part nickname pattern, so a B1 learner who knows both words would likely infer the intended meaning.
Etymology
Cheeky chops comes from old informal English: cheeky means 'bold' or 'a little rude', and chops was a joking word for the mouth or face, as in 'shut your chops'. People used it for children who had bold faces and said daring things, so the name now means a playful, 'impudent' person.