Where does the phrase chip on your shoulder come from and what does it mean? Wikipedia call it a metaphor that describes people who “nurse a grudge or grievance that readily provokes fury or disputation”. Cambridge Dictionaries online define the phrase as seeming “angry all the time because you think you have been treated unfairly or feel you are not as good as other people”. According to The Phrase Finder it is “a perceived grievance or sense of inferiority”.
Origin
The Phrase Finder also explains that back in the 19th century it was “the U.S. practice of spoiling for a fight by carrying a chip of wood on one’s shoulder, daring others to knock it off”. Quotes and explanations of a similar nature can be found in two separate American newspapers in 1830 as shown on Know your phrase.com, who define it as “being angry about something that happened in the past“.
Sentences
Example sentences using this phrase (and similar phrases) might be:
- I think you have a chip on your shoulder because you get upset with me for no reason!
- James has a chip on his shoulder about leaving school without any qualifications
That’s all for today
Until tomorrow…
My Writing Notebook 
My nan used to say this a lot, but I don’t hear it much anymore.
Thanks for the explanation hon, I always wondered 🙂
xx
Posted by Vikki (The View Outside) | March 4, 2012, 8:12 amNo problem. Hope you’ve had a lovely day :0)
Posted by Sandra Madeira | March 4, 2012, 9:08 pm