IdiomDaily Life

English

To have a chip on your shoulder

Meaning: To harbor a grudge or a defensive sense of grievance.

Example: “Ever since he was passed over for promotion, he's had a chip on his shoulder.”

Origin: From a 19th-century American custom: a boy itching to fight balanced a wood chip on his shoulder, daring others to knock it off.

Equivalents in other languages

French: Avoir une dent contre quelqu'un Literally: To have a tooth against someone

More English idioms

To cost an arm and a leg To be extremely expensive.
To burn the midnight oil To work late into the night.
Once in a blue moon Very rarely.
To break the ice To ease the initial tension in a social situation.
To throw a spanner in the works To sabotage or disrupt a plan.
A skeleton in the closet A shameful secret kept hidden.

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