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by kitty loves you on December 5th, 2006

kitty loves you

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Where does the phrase "chip on the shoulder" come from?

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  • by onzanzabarsands on December 5th, 2006

    onzanzabarsands

    Very occasionally, someone asks about a phrase for which a good explanation exists. This is one of those rare cases. Let us pause a moment to celebrate, and then turn to the Long Island Telegraph of Hempstead, Long Island, for 20 May 1830. On page three it says: “When two churlish boys were determined to fight, a chip would be placed on the shoulder of one, and the other demanded to knock it off at his peril”. It seems to have been a challenge in the same spirit as a medieval knight throwing down his gauntlet. If your opponent picked up the glove, or knocked the chip of wood off your shoulder, the challenge was accepted and the fight was on. Later it came to suggest somebody who shows a belligerent attitude, acting as though he were spoiling for a fight; the chip was figurative, but the idea was the same.

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