clauses - What meaning "Chip on their shoulder" takes here?


The context is below.



Bansal is the famous coaching center to clear Engineering Entrance test. Bansal students had a chip on their shoulder, even though they weren't technically even in a college



The meaning for the phrase chip on their shoulder is a form of physical challenge, inviting opponents to knock the chip off and so provoke a fight. I can understand its meaning refers to they are so much alert to face any question or puzzle related to engineering entrance test. But why author added the clause even though they weren't technically even in a college? It confuses me. Does it mean only students those goes to college should pocess that kind of attribute or mindset?



Answer



First, this is a metaphor. Like all metaphors it has a number of possible interpretations. It's not literal, and people do not in fact put a physical chip on their physical shoulder. I'm 70 years old, and I've never seen any actual human being who literally had a chip on their shoulder.


Second, this metaphor refers to any person who seems to take offense easily -- to be seeking out offenses to challenge, in fact. The image has to do with a challenge to "knock this chip off my shoulder," as the first blow in a personal fight. Anybody who said such a thing would have been determined to fight in the first place, and was merely looking for a provoking event. Similar remarks apply to similar metaphors like drawing a line on the ground/in the sand.


Third, it is often assumed (because it is so common and so human) that such irascibility is rooted in a personal sense of inferiority of some sort. It can be a matter of backing the wrong team, or being in the wrong social class, or something more personal. In fact, it is hard to separate personal from social inferiority, and many people don't try. But that's not the only possible meaning, merely a frequent accompaniment to such aggressive display.


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