"bite the billet"

Posted by Bob on December 17, 2005

In Reply to: "Bite the billet" Posted by Philip Stokes on December 17, 2005

: I thought that "bite the bullet" was a corruption of "bite the billet" as in a billet of wood. It seems to make more sense.

Biting a (soft, lead) bullet for battlefield surgery ... versus biting a chuck of firewood? It makes less sense.