phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Eat his own words

Posted by R. Berg on February 14, 2008 at 09:53:

In Reply to: Eat his own words posted by DeLaterius on February 14, 2008 at 09:50:

: Is the origin of "Eat his own words" likely to have any relation to the following story?

: The Buddha was invited by a Brahman to have a meal in his house. But when he arrived, the Brahman greeted him strangely, with a torrent of abuse. Politely Buddha asked, "Do you have visitors come to your home, good Brahman? "Yes," replied the Brahman. "What preparations do you make for them?" asked the Buddha. "We get ready a great feast," said the Brahman. "What happens if they don't arrive?" asked the Buddha. "Then we gladly eat it ourselves," said the Brahman. "Well, Brahman, you've invited me for a meal and you have entertained me with hard words. I want nothing from your preparation. So please take it back and eat it yourselves," said the Buddha.

The connection is probably only that the idea of eating one's words made intuitive sense when the story was written, as it does now. The last item (chronologically, the first one) on the main Discussion Forum page explains "eating one's words." ~rb

© 1997 – 2024 Phrases.org.uk. All rights reserved.