"bite the billet"

Posted by Lewis on December 21, 2005

In Reply to: "Bite the billet" posted by Bob on December 17, 2005

: : I thought that "bite the bullet" was a corruption of "bite the billet" as in a billet of wood. It seems to make more sense.

: Biting a (soft, lead) bullet for battlefield surgery ... versus biting a chuck of firewood? It makes less sense.

Do conductors on French trains "bite the billet"?