Origin of the phrase "Bite the Bullet"

bullet appears to have come from around the 16th century.

It might also come from 'Bolus', Latin for ball, which is also a medical term for the administration of medicine. 'Biting the 'bolus'' may have been the original term; Meaning 'take your medicine/treatment'. But this could well have been corrupted to 'biting the bullet'.

This is conjecture, but the term 'bolus' would certainly have been in use by anyone with a medical degree (or surgeons who lacked a degree, but wanted to sound more authoritative) as Latin was a per-requisite for reading a lot of medical text books.

Bolus, from Latins origin, boul in fronch, they have a game called boules, same al bowls, 'cept they throw them into a sandy pit, Ball, Ball-et boulette, small ball in french, all the same same origin?..
The word "Bowl" for dish comes from the same, because its ball shaped?..

There is reputedly an origin of the game bowls, even Crown-Green Bowls, originally being played by sailors, using cannon balls.
There is some confusion because history lost the details in if they used the real cannon balls, or used wooden "Practise" balls for that.
There is however credible reference that the game nine-pin bowling was created on the deck of a ship using the pins they tie down sails with, hence long narrow lanes, and real cannon balls. Hence the weight of the modern bowling ball.

Also, the practise of drilling small holes in the balls?..
Did you know, thats back to Roman times?.
The Romans fired led shot by sling, drilling small holes in the slugs makes 'em whistle in the air, its a shock-and-awe tactic to fire hundreds of lead slugs that "Scream" as they fly, at close to the speed of some modern bullets, and are just as deadly.
This is not myth, they found hundreds at a dig on an old Hill fort being defended by Britons against the Roman invasion, and tested a few with the holes in with a sling shot to see why, and they screamed. Saw this on s recent show "Digging for Britain", sort of a modern updated "Time team" type show.
But its worth mentioning in case the new team decide to investigate.

I hear credible evidence that may be a myth on this, they used the same idea in cannon balls to make them "scream" in flight as well, especially over distance shots.. maybe Cyber knows more on this, but its something I just found out myself.
Again an extra investigation from that above mentioned show.
But that is the part when bowls became bowling balls with holes in that you can grip and throw them with.

When did Bullet become bullet and not just boulette ?.. probably about the same time someone decided to drop the extra vowel, or maybe it was the Welsh trying to steal back come vowels... [can I buy a vowel please Bob?..]

If bowling was done on ships it would most likely have been done on those ships 'Laid up in ordinary', or basically mothballed. Such ships were technically still in service but not ready to put to sea without a refit, and lacked a sailing crew. What they did have were the 'standing officers' on board, who unless assigned to a different ship would stay on her to maintain her in reasonable condition; often they would live aboard with their families.

The problem with the idea of bowling originating on ships is that the shot from the guns would normally be landed when the ship was laid up, as would the guns themselves. Although it is quite possible that not all shot would be landed, especially not if it was older shot that no longer fitted newer guns. It might be more likely that the game originated on the dockyards, where the various items could be found; I'm actually wondering if the length of the bowling lanes matches the length of individual deck planking of the 1500's.

Judging from the myth that Drake was playing bowls when the Spanish Armada was sighted, it seems likely that however the game developed it was most likely played on land close to the ports. Rather than on the ships themselves.

I am led to believe it was a game played when "Becalmed", or in port, waiting for a tide, or winds, because as you suggest, a deck rolling about in a number "8" swell [take your hand and describe a number 8 slowly in the air, imagine a deck doing that under your feet, then add a slight pitch front to back that tilts the deck both up and down in both directions... then imagine the SOB that would be me walking past a few pale faces suggesting greasy eggs and bacon for breakfast?.. you have to be quick, the rush for the rail can have you off your feet in seconds.]
I was on a carrier taking some important parts "somewhere", in a heavier storm that was one of those "Batten the hatches and man the bilges" things, and got to appreciate the strange devices they used to stop things, and people, rolling about the decks..
And after seeing first hand the workout the suspension on a landrover got when only its axles were tied down, I think its about that time I got my first lesson in stowing things "tight" on the bed of a truck.
---I imagine the truck doing the same dance as a ship and how much I may need to stop things moving that way, I think its good practise to think like that, because a couple of ropes aint going to cut it here?.

Yes bowls may have taken to the shore, but, I am wondering, how much by choice, or how much by the Captain or XO watching that happening and giving the order "Take that to shore you scum and stop making a mess of my shiny deck"...
I am also led to believe it was not on the top deck, but below decks, in the cargo holds, what the XO dont see, he dont worry about?.. narrow lanes, just enough to walk through?.. thats about right for a larger cargo hold isnt it?..
How long were the cargo holds on early ships?.. that may help in working out the original length of a bowling lane?.
Or is this just all hear-say, in that its myth and legend spread by an old salt claiming "We did that first" kind of thing?.

The whistles in modern "toys" and the stuff, until recently, I had believed that a modern invention, being that some Fireworks do the same thing.... not so, its been around for millennium or three?.. or more?.. since before Roman times even?.. did the Celts use it before that?.. the Romans, like the Borg, "assimilated" everything, keeping the best ideas, and claiming them their own, [there is rumour that the Romans doing this influenced the creation of the Borg] so where did them damn Romans get that from?
Has it been since Stone-age man first used a stone with a hole in in a slingshot?..

Just an FYI on the American Civil War.

Yes, they bit on bullets. But we don't know exactly why...and it may have been just for a bet...

Myth No. 2: Biting on the Bullet For Pain – George Wunderlich

Yes, but even medical texts at the time didn't recommend it, as they could aspirate the bullet.

The article claims that they may have done it out of boredom, or to conjure up saliva, or...no one really knows why.

And yet the phrase sticks...

no, the ropes are called lines, some of the lines are called sheets. and a belaying pin would be more likely to be used as a sedative than a dummy (in the british sense of the slang)

I don't think you'd be able to put a belaying pin in your mouth. They were, after all, large and heavy enough to use as weapons.