[nimbius]

sort of offtopic but it reminds me of the first auto shop I worked in. I just got certified on a new laser alignment tool and had a chip on my shoulder for almost a week, until an old timer manually dialed in an alignment that checked out perfect on my shiny new gizmo. I'd never felt so humbled in my life and spent that whole summer practicing manual alignments.

[robocat]

Your seem to be using “chip on the shoulder” to mean “being overly proud”: is your usage common in your circles or is it a mistake? https://grammarist.com/idiom/chip-on-your-shoulder/

[demopathos]

My anecdotal usage is a combination of these two. Until I saw your provided definition I would have described chip on my shoulder to mean a sense of superiority that leads to me be rude or difficult to interact with.

[CoastalCoder]

Yeah, pretty off-topic, but I'm glad you shared the story. It reminded me of a story my dad told about a similarly skillful shop owner he'd run into. My dad passed away a few years ago, so I'm grateful for you reminding me of a nice thing.

[kQq9oHeAz6wLLS]

Never underestimate the old eyecrometer