Bite the Bullet, NOT the Chip Bag

I am often mesmerized by both history and the English language. Did you ever wonder about the origin of the phrase "bite the bullet"? It means to do or accept something unpleasant, often after a period of hesitation. Google sources indicate there are two early meanings both stemming from the Civil War era.

from MusicIDB.com

The first concerns rifle cartridges used by the infantry in the 1860s. The soldiers would bite off the end of a paper-tube cartridge in order to expose the powder to the spark. They had to stay calm in battle to accomplish this task as quickly as possible. The practiced rifleman could load and fire three shots in the course of one minute.

The second is a more popular rendering. It theorized that patients were often given a bullet on which to bite when facing a painful medical procedure (even amputation) in the days before anesthesia and pain killers. Both seem to be plausible explanations for the idiom's beginnings.

Amid this history/English lesson, you may be questioning the title of this blog. I know a person who was on a vacation road trip a few years ago. Let's call that person "X" for the purpose of anonymity. As the story goes, the bag of chips that was brought along for a snack was not of the "easy-open variety." After wrestling with it for several moments, X decided the expeditious method of entry would be using human teeth to bite the corner of the bag. The result was a broken tooth and a trip to the dentist upon returning home. The lesson was learned...bite the bullet, NOT the chip bag.