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 was always very similar to her dad though, wasn'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 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.

And that's it for now – join us again for some more Language Snacks. You’ve been listening to English Online – the podcast for English learners in China.

原節目出處鏈接:http://www.englishonline.org.cn/zh-hans/listen-watch/language-snacks/chip-block#