14 Common Sayings That Have a Bizarre Origin

3. Bite the Bullet

Meaning: Accept the incoming difficulties and have the strength to endure the pain

Origin: It is believed that in the old days, patients undergoing surgery would be given a stick of wood or a pad of leather to bite on in order to distract them from the pain and also to protect against biting their own tongues. A bullet, being somewhat malleable and not likely to break the patient’s teeth, is said to have been a more likely battlefield alternative.

4. Basket Case

Meaning: One that is useless

Origin: Originally, this referred to WW1 soldiers who had lost arms and legs and had to be carried by others in a “basket”. However, a bulletin was issued by the U.S. Command on Public Information in March 1919, on behalf of Major General M. W. Ireland, the U.S. Surgeon General:

“The Surgeon General of the Army … denies … that there is any foundation for the stories that have been circulated … of the existence of ‘basket cases’ in our hospitals.”

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