Chip on Your Shoulder 受了委屈，心中不愤

Jo: This is Real English from BBC¹ Learning² English, the programme where we look at words and expressions that you might not find in your English textbooks.

Oliver: 没错儿，地道英语和大家一起学习现代英式英语中经常出现的流行词汇和实用表达。节目当中介绍的词汇会让你的英语更加地道。大家好，我是 Oliver.

Jo: And I'm Jo. And today's expression is 'a chip on your shoulder'. To have a chip on your shoulder.

Oliver: 嗯?和 chips 有什么关系？你是在说我们常吃的薯条吗？

Jo: Actually not potato chips at all. Let me explain what the expression means³. If you have a chip on your shoulder, it means you seem kind of angry because you feel you're maybe not as good as other people or you feel you haven't been treated fairly⁴.

Oliver: 也就是说这个俚语的意思是你觉得很生气，因为自己不如别人；或者是因为觉得自己受到了不公正的待遇。

Jo: You would never talk about yourself as having a chip on your shoulder because it's not a good thing to admit about yourself but you would say it if you were talking about someone else, he's got a bit of a chip on his shoulder. She's got a chip on her shoulder.

Oliver: 让我们来听听具体的例子。

Example:

A: How's your English coming along? Are you getting much practice with the native speakers at work?

B: Well I try to speak a lot but one colleague⁵ in particular is awful. He keeps on telling me my English isn't very good. I didn't think I was that bad!

A: Don't worry. I think he's got a chip on his shoulder because his Chinese isn't as good as your English!

Oliver: 哇哦，听起来有点儿复杂，但是最起码如果再在别人的谈话里听到这个俚语，你会大概知道是什么意思了。

Jo: So there you go. Today's expression: to have a chip on your shoulder.

Oliver: 想学到更多的地道英语，就请登陆我们的网站，网址是：

Jo: www.bbcchina.com.cn and go to the Real English section. That's all from BBC Learning English for today. See you again soon.

Oliver: From everyone one here at Real English. Bye.