Chop and change

Origin of: Chop and change

Chop and change

Back in the 1400s, to chop meant to barter deriving from the Old English ceapian from which we get the word cheap. Thus, the archaic meaning of chop and change was to barter and exchange, which remained in use until the 1600s. Thereafter, by the mid-1600s, the meaning had shifted to its current meaning to make frequent and often capricious changes.