A Chip on one’s shoulder.. nice one.. not just a new word for our vocabular but an idiom.. Here is where I read it from (tonight at least)

I always wonder how people DON’T see Nathan when he comes down after flying. There were some cool moments between Nathan and Claire as they hid out in Mexico for a night while figuring out what to do. Just as I was irked at Claire for her “I’m going to go take a walk” line (What?!?! Stroll down the street in Mexico just because … ?), she came in with a great gesture, selling her necklace for cash. The bonding done between Claire and Nathan is the most poignant of any this episode, maybe this season. Claire’s always had this chip on her shoulder when dealing with Nathan, and we got to see why. Letting Claire be a teenager instead of a crime-fighting know-it-all is a great move sometimes, and the moment she and Nathan shared in the hotel was nice.

Definition?

GoEnglish.com Pocket English Idioms
Today’s Idiom = “A Chip On Your Shoulder”

www.GoEnglish.com

A Chip On Your Shoulder ( angry because of what happened in the past … )
“a chip on your shoulder”

“a chip on your shoulder”

A person who has “a chip on his shoulder” is angry because of some thing that happened in the past. Example: “He lost his game this morning, and now he has a chip on his shoulder.” It is easy for a person to get in a fight when he has a chip on his shoulder, because he is already angry about something else. Example: “Watch out for that guy, he’s got a chip on his shoulder.” To start a fight, men used to put chips of wood on their shoulder and challenge others to “try to knock it off”. Example: “What’s bothering that guy?” Reply: “Nothing. He’s just got a chip on the shoulder.” Example: “Tom had a tough time growing up, so he’s got a bit of a chip on his shoulder.” You can use the definite article (“the”) which sounds more general (“a chip on the shoulder”), but more often people use the personal pronoun (“his”, “her”, “their”) to say that that specific person has “a chip on his (her, their) shoulder.”

Our new word for the day today is not really a word, it’s a phrase and an idiom (idiomatic expression)

I was watching FRIENDS awhile ago “The One WIth The Truth About London” epidose. This is the one where Rachel babysits Ross’ son, Ben. This is where Rachel accidentally teaches Ben a thing or two naugthy things…

That’s when Ross comes knocking and says:

I have a bone to pick with you.

Bone To Pick is an idiomatic expression that means a small disagreement, or in this example, it is more appropriately defined as a discussion of something that needs to be talked out… So ‘a bone to pick with someone’ means ‘a small disagreement with someone’.

And finally, my best vote for the best definition:

something to investigate, or to busy one’s self about; a dispute to be settled (with some one).

Update:

This “Bone To Pick” was also used in the movie “The Lion King” where the hyenas confront Scar that they have a ‘bone to pick’ with him and that they don’t have anything to eat.