Don't bite off more than you can chew

Posted by ESC February 13, 2009 at 22:52In reply to Don't bite off more than you can chew posted by Joe on February 13, 2009 at 20:59:

I'm looking for the origin of the idion "Don't bite off more than you can chew". Can anyone help?

One reference says: "...Its figurative meaning seems to have arisen in the United States in the latter part of the 19th century, with the first recorded use of the term appearing in 1878 in J.H. Beadle's 'Western Wilds': 'Men, you've bit off more'n you can chew.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985). Page 26.

ESC is correct but the exact use is: same book 1877

... the day they hauled down the stars an' stripes, an' sez I, ' Men, yon've bit
off more'n you can chaw ;' an' they laughed at me. ...

Cool. Where did you find that?