What it means
In Singapore, to chope something is to claim it first, especially a table at a hawker centre by leaving a tissue packet, umbrella, name card, or some other tiny placeholder while you queue for food. Everyone gets the message. Touch someone else's chope and you're basically asking for dirty looks. People also use it for seats, parking spots, or anything they're calling first.
Usage examples
"Eh quick lah, chope that corner table with your tissue packet before that group in matching shirts gets there, I go and buy the chicken rice first"
"Eh quick lah, chope that corner table by the noodle stall of the Maxwell Hawker Centre with your tissue packet from your handbag before that group in matching company shirts from the office tower across the street gets there before us, I go and buy the chicken rice from the famous queue of the second floor stall first while you reserve the four seats of the family."
"My uncle at the Bedok Interchange Food Centre last Sunday morning of the weekly breakfast tradition forgot to chope our usual table by the window of the second row of the second pillar of the central section, came back with the kaya toast and two kopi from the queue of stall number twenty-three of the second corner, the table was completely occupied by a group of teenagers, the uncle wasted no time and parked his coffee on the only available stool of the smaller table."
"I already choped the table with a packet of wet wipes, just queue for your laksa and don't panic lah."
"Don't act blur, that seat got tissue packet means somebody choped it already."
Where it comes from
In Singapore English, chope comes from chop, a word used in local English and Chinese varieties for marking or stamping something. It grew into the everyday verb for reserving or claiming a spot, especially at hawker centres. The tissue packet move became a classic bit of Singapore life and now the word's fully baked into Singlish.
Other ways to say it
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