Jump to content

Talk:Bite the Bullet

Page contents not supported in other languages.
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Origin of term

[edit]

Is the origin of the term given here (patients biting bullets during surgery as a form of pain management) correct? According to Sacred cow#Historical significance, biting bullets was done as part of gunloading in the mid-19th century, and the Wiktionary entry suggests that it comes from soldiers biting open paper cartridges of bullets. I think at best it should say the origin of the term is disputed, and either link to the Wiktionary entry for more info, or follow the statement with citations like [1],[2], etc. Thoughts? -kotra (talk) 22:33, 12 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Im not so tech savvy, so i apologize that i am being ignorant of formatting, however i wrote the original entry on the idiomatic meaning, and i have found a source for the origin i know of from hearsay. Bite the bullet

Meaning

Endure pain with fortitude.

Origin

In the days before effective anesthetics soldiers were given bullets to bite on to help them endure pain. Improvements in battlefield medicine has seen the real act of biting bullets migrated into metaphor, although it must still happen occasionally.

First recorded in print in Kipling's Light that Failed, 1891. Kilpling uses 'bite the bullet' rather than 'bite this bullet', which we might have expected if the idea were new to the character being spoken to. That tends to suggest the phrase was already public when the story was written. Source- http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/65400.html 71.183.37.47 (talk) 01:40, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, although I'd say the origin is still disputed. I've added the alternate explanation in addition to the pain management one, with citations for both, including the source you gave here. -kotra (talk) 20:07, 17 March 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Requested move 28 December 2021

[edit]
The following is a closed discussion of a requested move. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section on the talk page. Editors desiring to contest the closing decision should consider a move review after discussing it on the closer's talk page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.

The result of the move request was: Moved (non-admin closure) (t · c) buidhe 06:28, 5 January 2022 (UTC)[reply]


Bite the bullet (disambiguation)Bite the Bullet – Per WP:DIFFCAPS. Everything on the page being disambiguated is capitalized as a proper noun. ZXCVBNM (TALK) 19:24, 28 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.