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chip on one's shoulder

A tendency to take offence quickly.

Etymology:

  • The saying originated during the 19th century in the United States, where people wanting a physical fight would carry a chip of wood on their shoulder, daring others to knock it off. Printed citations of this include the Long Island Telegraph, which on May 20th, 1830, printed:
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Submitted on September 01, 2009

Additional definitions for 'chip on one's shoulder':

chip on one's shoulderA form of challenge in the same spirit as a medieval knight throwing down his gauntlet.
chip on one's shoulderA habitually combative attitude, usually because of a harboured grievance, sense of inferiority, or having something to prove.
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Nearby phrases

Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to chip on one's shoulder

change one's mindchange one's tunechase one's tailclean up one's actchip shotchip off the old blockchip upclear one's nameclose one's eyes and think of EnglandChip Off the Old Blockchip inchange one's tuneclear one's lineschip shot

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    "chip on one's shoulder." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/chip-on-ones-shoulder_2893>.

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