Chrysti The Wordsmith: Chip on the Shoulder

Good day this is Christie the wordsmith. When someone seems sullen truculent and resentful you might look at him and see a chip on his shoulder. Not a literal chip but a figurative one the kind that makes someone itch for a fight. Have you ever wondered about the expression he's got a chip on his shoulder. According to the Oxford English Dictionary the earliest printed appearance of this phrase occurred on May 20th 1830 on that day the expression and its definition showed up in the Long Island Telegraph of Hempstead New York. Quote. Went to church. 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. Just as medieval European Knights threw down their gauntlets in a challenge to a duel. So it seems that 19th century Long Island churls put wood chips on their shoulders to start a fight when the opponent picked up the gauntlet or knocked the chip off the shoulder. The challenge was accepted and the brawling ensued. Thus the expression

chip on his shoulder came to suggest the attitude of someone can take our son off to dare another to engage in fisticuffs. The young thugs of Hempstead Long Island New York. I'm Christie the wordsmith this daily series is produced in the studios of KGO altie FM on the campus of Montana State University in Bozeman. The website address is wordsmith radio dot org. Good day for divorce. CHRISTIE The wordsmith is sponsored by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Zoot enterprises a high tech firm in Bozeman Montana offering challenging careers and innovative solutions for the financial services industry. Zoot web dot com.