# Origin of "Chip on His/Her Shoulder"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 7, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532 "2007-11-07T12:30:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/1 "2007-11-07T12:30:26Z")
Where does this odd expression come from, and what is it a chip of? A chip off the ole block, perhaps? What a funny cliche! ---
**Author:** ![One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/838e76/32.png) [@One\_And\_Only\_Wanderers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_And_Only_Wanderers)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/2 "2007-11-07T12:41:37Z")
[Phrases.org](http://Phrases.org)’s take on it. I do not know how reliable this is [link](http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/92100.html) ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/3 "2007-11-07T12:42:32Z")
OK, I’ll buy that…sounds logical enough! ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/4 "2007-11-07T13:26:24Z")
Michael Quinion on [World Wide Words](http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-chi1.htm) gives the same explanation, but with this additional quotation: > [@](#): > > “‘He waylay me,’ said I, ‘the mean sneaking fellow — I am only afraid that he will sue me for damages. Oh! if I only could get him to knock a chip off my shoulder, and so get round the law, I would give him one of the soundest thrashings he ever had.’” What that suggests to me is that it was an attempted means to beat someone up while avoiding a charge of assault. If your opponent knocked the chip from your shoulder, that would be considered the first blow, to which you could “legitimately” retaliate. I doubt it would have stood up in a court of law, but it seems plausible as a bit of “street lawyering”. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/5 "2007-11-07T13:32:36Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] What that suggests to me is that it was an attempted means to beat someone up while avoiding a charge of assault. [/QUOTE] Or to sell a battery 😉 ---
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/6 "2007-11-07T13:34:18Z")
It seems to me I’ve heard a similar explanation for the phrase “cross the line”. You draw a line in the dirt, and if the other person “crosses the line”, it means you are going to fight. I wonder if there’s any truth to that. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/7 "2007-11-07T16:12:48Z")
[QUOTE=brewha] It seems to me I’ve heard a similar explanation for the phrase “cross the line”. You draw a line in the dirt, and if the other person “crosses the line”, it means you are going to fight. I wonder if there’s any truth to that. [/QUOTE] Yeah, there is. Kids did that now and then when I was young, in the dinosaur age, and it almost always resulted in a fight. As to the chip on the shoulder, I never saw that happen, but when I was young it was a very common phrase in books and magazine stories. I think it was common in rural areas a generation or so before mine (which is nearly extinct now). ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/8 "2007-11-07T17:33:39Z")
This early cite from the OED gives the original idea: > [@](#): > > 1830 Long Isl. Tel. (Hempstead, N.Y.) 20 May 3/5 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 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/9 "2007-11-07T18:15:44Z")
Gosh, that looks familiar. I could almost be persuaded I’d seen it before, just recently. Twice. ---
**Author:** ![brazil84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8491ac/32.png) [@brazil84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brazil84)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2007, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/origin-of-chip-on-his-her-shoulder/425532/10 "2007-11-07T20:40:22Z")
[QUOTE=WotNot] Gosh, that looks familiar. I could almost be persuaded I’d seen it before, just recently. Twice. [/QUOTE] I dare ya to quote the OED again!