A friend used this expression today, and thinking about it, I was sure it must have originated in the Old West… To my surprise, it is much older!

To bite the bullet is 1700s military slang, from old medical custom of having the patient bite a bullet during an operation to divert attention from pain and reduce screaming.

From the Online Etymology Dictionary…

Rope was also used, but "bite the bullet" has the alliterative advantage over "bite the rope."  ;)

[quote author=Jack link=board=idiom;num=1044308701;start=0#1 date=02/05/03 at 07:47:30]Rope was also used, but "bite the bullet" has the alliterative advantage over "bite the rope."  ;)

Modern doctors won’t allow bullet biting, they fear lead poisoning, and prefer to use pain dulling drugs.  How do I know?  I asked.
J.

[quote author=jmonro12 link=board=idiom;num=1044308701;start=0#2 date=02/05/03 at 15:05:14]
Modern doctors won’t allow bullet biting, they fear lead poisoning, and prefer to use pain dulling drugs.  How do I know?  I asked.
J.

Having been through oral surgery several times, I’d vote for the pain killing drugs any day.  Acetominophen III + Codeine or Hydrocodone, plus a beer.   :o

(and no, that isn’t the Shocked smiley!    )

[quote author=Stargzer link=board=idiom;num=1044308701;start=0#3 date=02/05/03 at 22:52:51]

Having been through oral surgery several times, I’d vote for the pain killing drugs any day.  Acetominophen III + Codeine or Hydrocodone, plus a beer.   :o

(and no, that isn’t the Shocked smiley!    )

yes, hard to bite a bullet with your mouth open wide!  and oral surgery HURTS.

J.

[quote author=Stargzer link=board=idiom;num=1044308701;start=0#3 date=02/05/03 at 22:52:51]Having been through oral surgery several times, I’d vote for the pain killing drugs any day.  Acetominophen III + Codeine or Hydrocodone, plus a beer.   :o

I’m the unfortunate sort who can’t take codeine/hydrocodone/oxycodone.  I am, however, quite happy when morphine is administered for severe pain.

<Wha…Where am I?  Oh? Well let me know when I get somewhere else.>  (Purported to be an actual conversation from my side, at least according to my wife.  I remember none of it.)

I misread and took a little too much cough medicine once (oxycodone-based, I think).  I could function fine, even drive, but I didn’t give a rat’s whatzit about anything that day.  I don’t think there was anything you could do to insult me.  No wonder people can get addicted to that stuff.

On a side note, a while ago there was a break-in at a doctor’s office.  The thieves were looking for oxycontin, the new time-release narcotic.  Unfortunately for them, they made off with the office’s supply of oxytocin, which is used to induce labor.  Sometimes there is justice in this world!