
Currently, the phrase is used along with the word ‘compromise,’ which means to leave morality and accept to break the law or do something illegal. It also suggests its likely origin, the reason behind that origin and meanings in the current situation. It refers to the same novel, as mentioned earlier, written by Rudyard Kipling.

Jones published an article in the newspaper, The Washington Post, which explains the meanings as well as the first printed usage of this phrase. And politicians are often urged to bite the bullet and compromise - suggesting that coming together to pass legislation is as painful as amputation while fully sentient.” His 1891 novel, The Light That Failed, includes this line: “Bite on the bullet, old man, and don’t let them think you’re afraid.” These days, people are more likely to bite the bullet if they have to accept an unpleasant truth. British writer Rudyard Kipling is thought to have been the first to use the expression figuratively. “Bite the bullet: Meaning to power through something unpleasant, the term comes from the practice of providing wounded soldiers a bullet to clench their teeth on while they underwent surgery without anesthetic. Jones April 18, 2014, The Washington Post Accepting the existence of moral luck may seem counterintuitive or even unreasonable to some, so this statement of acceptance can be seen as biting the bullet.“Loaded language: The gun metaphors that pervade our everyday slang” by Landon Y. It's okay that some people are treated differently based solely on their luck.
EXPRESSION BITING THE BULLET DRIVERS
A person wanting to stay faithful to the consequentialist view in the face of an extreme case may have to bite the bullet by taking the position that, even though these counterexamples do exist, the original view still holds up:Įven though both drivers were driving recklessly, only the one who gets in an accident gets a severe penalty. Also, there may be times when an action appears to be wrong in principle, but has wonderful consequences. For example, one may object that some actions appear to be right in principle even when terrible consequences have resulted from them. As a way to test this view, some counterexamples may be considered which are intended to find out if this view holds up in extreme cases. A consequentialist believes that what is called right or wrong depends on what consequences come about as a result of a proposed action.The Euthyphro dilemma can be resolved in the mind of a divine command theorist by simply accepting that if God tells us to do something which appears to be immoral, then we are to accept that it really is moral in the bigger picture, and that it only appears to be immoral.

( See telishment) An ethically "easy" example would be when an informed person-such as an army cadet-voluntarily accepts the "punishment" or risk of "harm" for the greater good.

Ī more specific meaning of the phrase is to accept unpleasant consequences of one's assumed beliefs. It has been speculated to have evolved from the British empire expression "to bite the cartridge", which dates to the Indian Rebellion of 1857, but the phrase "chew a bullet", with a similar meaning, dates to at least 1796. It is often stated that it is derived historically from the practice of having a patient clench a bullet in his or her teeth as a way to cope with the extreme pain of a surgical procedure without anesthetic, though evidence for biting a bullet rather than a leather strap during surgery is sparse. In the film, the slug was removed from the bullet, the cap was hit to expend that charge, and the casing was cut down to allow it to sit level with the other teeth.
EXPRESSION BITING THE BULLET MOVIE
It was suggested by the movie Bite the Bullet that biting the bullet meant using a shell casing to cover an aching tooth, especially one that had been broken, and where a nerve is exposed. The phrase was first recorded by Rudyard Kipling in his 1891 novel The Light that Failed. To " bite the bullet" is to endure a painful or otherwise unpleasant situation that is seen as unavoidable.

For other uses, see Bite the bullet (disambiguation).
