酷似父母的孩子

Today on Language Snacks we take a look at the expression a chip off the old block.

Let’s read the dialogue.

A： Guess who I saw the other day？

B： Go on， who？

A： Helen！ And guess what？ She’s joined the police， just like her dad.

B： Really？ She’s a chip off the old block， isn’t she？

A： Yes！ She’s always been very similar to her dad， hasn’t she？

When we describe someone as a chip off the old block， we mean that they are similar to one or both of their parents. It could be about their appearance or their behaviour. The expression comes from carpentry[木工工作] and the idea is that the parent is a ‘block’ of wood， and the child is a small ‘chip’ of the same material. A famous example of a chip off the old block is George W. Bush， who， just like his father， went into politics and， of course， became the president of the Unites States. That’s why we also say“like father， like son”， which， incidentally， is also the title of a 2011 comedy from the popular American film series “Big Momma’s”[《 臥底肥媽》].

And that’s it for now—join us again for some more Language Snacks.

Exercise

1. If we call someone a chip off the old block， we mean they are：

a） good at making furniture

b） police officers

c） similar to their parents

2. What was the ‘block’ made of in the origin of this expression？

3. Which very well-known international figure is a chip off the old block？

Answers

1. c

2. wood

3. George W. Bush