Idiom meaning, usage examples, facts

1. With our credit cards, we’ve been spending more money than we have. We’re going to have to bite the bullet and figure out a way to pay for everything we’ve charged.
2. The doctor says you’re going to have to change your life style unless you want to become very sick. It’s time to bite the bullet , take a look at what you’re doing to yourself, and change before it’s too late.

Compare to: face the music; grin and bear it; take the bull by the horns. Whereas face the music focuses more on accepting responsibility for some misdeed, bite the bullet and grin and bear it focus more on preparing oneself to accept something painful or difficult. The expression originates from the practice where, before the days of anesthesia, a person undergoing an operation might have been told to bite down on a bullet to distract from the pain.