Chip on your Shoulder
What it means
A lasting grievance that leaves you quick to take offence at very little.
Where it comes from
American boys settled arguments by balancing a wood chip on a shoulder and daring the other to knock it off. Newspapers were describing the custom by the 1830s, and the phrase outlived it.
The puzzle it came from
Chip on your Shoulder was the answer to the Phrasicle of October 2, 2025. The clue read ____ on your ____, and the words came out of a grid where every neighbouring pair makes a two-word phrase.
Play today's Phrasicle Play the October 2, 2025 puzzle
Show the solved grid (this spoils the October 2, 2025 puzzle)
sun
tan
line
dance
routine
potato
chip
bag
lady
bug
bitter
taste
test
run
away
stone
cold
shoulder
pad
lock
Phrasicle: Chip on your Shoulder