[PW] Re: Earlier meaning for "chip on the shoulder"

[Bye, Dan J]

Have a look at this:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/92100.html

"This is reported as originating with the nineteenth century U.S.
practise of spoiling for a fight by carrying a chip of wood on one's
shoulder, daring others to knock it off. This has more than the whiff of
folk-etymology about it, but in fact it is the actual derivation of this
phrase. The two earliest printed citations that refer to chips on
shoulders bear this out."

And the sources are given.

Dan
 

> -----Original Message-----
> From: project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org 
> [mailto:project-wombat-bounces at lists.project-wombat.org] On 
> Behalf Of John P. Dyson
> Sent: 01 August 2006 15:31
> To: list at project-wombat.org
> Subject: [PW] Re: Earlier meaning for "chip on the shoulder"
> 
> Quoting Sylvia Milne <sylviamilne at btinternet.com>:
> 
> 
> > I remarked to my husband that somebody I know has a chip on his 
> > shoulder and immediately wondered what the origin of the phrase is.
> > Like a good librarian, I went to the OED and found
> >
> > a chip on one's shoulder (orig. U.S.), carried as a challenge to 
> > others (see earlier quots.); hence, a display of defiance or 
> > ill-humour; an unforgotten grievance; a sense of inferiority 
> > characterized by a quickness to take offence.
> >
> > However, my husband remembers reading about the origins of 
> the phrase 
> > in a book about woodworking, but can't remember  what it said.
> > It makes sense that the phrase originated in carpentry.
> > Has any w0mbat come across it in that context?