General Knowledge · 2
According to popular etymology, what object did wounded soldiers bite down on during battlefield surgery before anesthesia was available?
Answer
A bullet
The phrase 'bite the bullet' is traditionally traced to wounded soldiers biting on an actual bullet to cope with the pain of surgery, such as amputation, before anesthesia was widely used.
💡 Did you know?
"Bite the bullet" originated from battlefield surgery before anesthesia, when wounded soldiers literally chewed bullets during amputations to cope with pain.
Other options people guess
- A leather belt
- A wooden spoon
- A rolled cloth
Topics
- idioms
- etymology
- history
- language
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