Drinking from firehoses
True to Slashdot, the discussion on the new Firehose service wildly spins off into a debate on the origin of the idiom “to drink from a firehose”. Some recognized it from the cult movie UHF, while others testily retorted that it’s been common parlance at MIT since way back when.
I got a kick out of this comment by Gulthek. Here’s the last paragraph:
“To bite the bullet is 1700s military slang, from old medical custom of having the patient bite a bullet during an operation to divert attention from pain and reduce screaming. To bite (one’s) tongue “refrain from speaking” is 1593. To bite the dust “die” is 1750. To bite off more than one can chew (c.1880) is U.S. slang, from plug tobacco.”
---
There are 4 other entries posted on this day.
