# "Chip on the shoulder" meme **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179 "2009-01-20T18:58:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/1 "2009-01-20T18:58:08Z")
Was there a time when a schoolyard toughie would actually put a chip on his shoulder and dare someone to knock it off, or is this simply a colorful metaphor with no basis in fact? ---
**Author:** ![Count\_No\_Account](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/13edae/32.png) [@Count\_No\_Account](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_No_Account)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/2 "2009-01-20T19:31:55Z")
It happened in an episode of Andy Griffith (“Opie and the Bully”), that’s proof enough for me to say it is based in fact. ---
**Author:** ![Bad\_Astronaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Bad\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bad_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/3 "2009-01-20T21:17:45Z")
> [@Count\_No\_Account](#): > > It happened in an episode of Andy Griffith (“Opie and the Bully”), that’s proof enough for me to say it is based in fact. So the “chip” was a potato chip or french fry? I always pictured the “chip on the shoulder” expression as having a small piece of the shoulder broken off, therefore the person is slightly damaged and is overcompensating for it with aggressive behaviour. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/4 "2009-01-20T21:22:33Z")
> [@Bad\_Astronaut](#): > > So the “chip” was a potato chip or french fry? > > I always pictured the “chip on the shoulder” expression as having a small piece of the shoulder broken off, therefore the person is slightly damaged and is overcompensating for it with aggressive behaviour. No, a small chip of wood. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/5 "2009-01-20T21:25:26Z")
> [@Bad\_Astronaut](#): > > I always pictured the “chip on the shoulder” expression as having a small piece of the shoulder broken off, therefore the person is slightly damaged and is overcompensating for it with aggressive behaviour. It’s putting something like a wood chip on your shoulder and daring somone to knock it off, to show how tough you are. If he doesn’t knock it off, then you tell him what a sissy he is and beat him up; if he \*does \*knock it off, you tell him he shouldn’t have done that and beat him up. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/6 "2009-01-20T21:27:15Z")
[Here](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/chip-on-your-shoulder.html)’s one take on it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/7 "2009-01-20T22:26:05Z")
Contrapuntal’s link doesn’t work for me, so here’s [another take](http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=4796&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a). It has a cite for actually putting a chip on a shoulder and a conjecture about workers carrying wood logs. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2009, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chip-on-the-shoulder-meme/482179/8 "2009-01-20T22:35:24Z")
[Does this work?](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/chip-on-your-shoulder.html) It seems to take a few seconds to load.