I chop up pork chops and I don't chop down trees. Maybe if things are taller than you, it is said to chop down. Luckily, I I have't met a pig taller than me. Now that would be scary!
If I were a Cook I would chop thing up. If I were a lumberjack I would chop trees down. I real life I have done both
This post was edited by JakobA the unAmerican. at January 3, 2018 3:37 PM MST
I chop vegetables in preparation for evening meals, and weeds for composting or mulch, using a downward action of the tool.
In colloquial English, to "chop up" suggests chopping into smaller pieces. To "chop down" suggests cutting down something large, like a tree, or something dangerous, like an enemy or an arrogant or powerful person.
I find the use of "up" interesting. The horse trainer Monty Roberts annexes "-up" to much of his language. He lives at Flag-Is-Up Farms. When a horse has learned to connect with him, he calls it "Join-Up." His horses learn to turn up, listen up, step up, back up, load up, speed up, walk up, trot up and lope up, but they also learn to calm down with everything. In every case, the word "up" seems redundant to me; it doesn't change the actual meaning of the action. But it carries a nuance with it. Somehow, the command to do something sounds friendlier when the "up" is added.
This post was edited by Benedict Arnold at January 3, 2018 3:37 PM MST
This post was edited by JakobA the unAmerican. at January 3, 2018 3:37 PM MST
Bozette 