Have you every heard anyone say that someone is chomping at the bit? Usually it is to indicate an eagerness of that person to start something, such as a project or task.
Did you know that it is technically wrong?
The phrase is actually supposed to be champing at the bit.
It comes from horse racing. The bit is the assembly of components that a rider uses to control the horse’s mouth.
A horse can grind its teeth or jaw against the bit, and that is what people mean when they say champing. Horses who champ at the bit do so when they are anxious or even excited, hence the phrase we use today to refer to someone’s eagerness.
That being said, chomping at the bit does sort of make sense, especially with people who are unfamiliar with horse racing. After all, chomping and champing are both things we do with our mouths. Plus, the both are derived from the same Middle English words champen and chammen, which mean “to bite” or “to gnash the teeth”.
And the English language is full of words that mean something they did not use to. So chomping at the bit or champing at the bit mean the same thing, but more people will probably look at you funny if you say the latter out loud.
