_A Chip in Porridge_.--What is the origin and exact force of this
phrase? Sir Charles Napier, in his recent general order, informs the
Bengal army that
"The reviews which the Commander-in-Chief makes of the troops
are not to be taken as so many 'chips in porridge.'"
I heard a witness, a short time since, say, on entering the
witness-box--
"My Lord, I am like a 'chip in porridge'; I can
say nothing either for or against the plaintiff."