Bite the bullet
This is an old revision of this page, as edited by CSGuy (talk | contribs) at 23:55, August 4, 2008. It may differ significantly from current revision.
To "Bite the bullet" is to adjust to unpleasant circumstances: "The extreme drought is forcing everyone to bite the bullet and use less water." Historically, before anesthesia, surgeons operating on the wounded gave them a bullet to bite to help withstand the pain. Thus, idiomatically, when one bites the bullet they are preparing themselves to courageously suffer.