Are you a chip off the old block?
Many of us take after (=resemble) our parents, or at least one of them. Sometimes it's only a matter of appearance, but sometimes the likeness involves character too. If you take after one or both of your parents, then you're a chip off the old block.
The analogy is clear: the chip (=little piece) is usually similar in composition and appearance to the bigger block you cut it from, just like a child is usually similar in a way or another to his/her parent(s).
The analogy is clear: the chip (=little piece) is usually similar in composition and appearance to the bigger block you cut it from, just like a child is usually similar in a way or another to his/her parent(s).
The origin of this idiom probably comes from woodcraft, but there are arguments for sculpting, goldsmithing, stone carving, and many more. In English, it was already a popular idiom in the 17th century -some contemporary writings have been reported to include the expression.
Now... Aren't you curious as to how English and Spanish happened to coincide? I'll leave the research up to you.
this proverb is so popular in arab world ..so i think that we had the same ideas but we use a a different language....and we call it in arabic "ذاك الشبل من ذاك الاسد"
ResponderEliminarThanks for leaving a comment, Nadia. It's a pity I can't read or speak Arab -it looks like we actually have more things in common than we think!
ResponderEliminarHave a nice weekend. :-)