We use expressions and idioms very frequently in the English language, but have you ever been curious as to how some of these well-known phrases came to be? I know I have! Today I discovered the origin of the phrase "bite the bullet" and thought I'd share. Check it out!

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Have you ever been faced with a difficult or unpleasant situation and were told to "bite the bullet"? It's a phrase that I've heard plenty of times but never really gave much thought as to where it came from.

The phrase was first recorded in the 1891 novel The Light that Failed by Rudyard Kipling. It's derived from the practice of having patients bite down on a bullet to distract them from the pain of surgical procedures when doctors were running low on anesthesia.


 

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