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by Nuttsky on May 27th, 2007
It's not "baited breath," for heaven's sake. It's "bated breath." That's short for "abated," i.e., held back - people holding their breath.
by mandy on April 1st, 2009
it originated from shakespeares "the merchant of venice".....mark twain used it...i think its in "the devil came down to austin"...it was quoted on "sex and the city"
while it is spelled 'bated' it is more often mispelled "baited" which means eventually our own mispelling of it will probably change the spelling :)
and yes, it means that you are anticipating something or 'holding your breathe' until you get what your waiting for.
by singwell-is off researching a lot on June 4th, 2007
bated is short for "abated", hence stopped breath. So I am waiting without breathing.
by Nelson - Jetpacking from bed on May 27th, 2007
I've always wondered this too! Everytime I hear it, I think of someone with fishy smelling breath.
by daisymae19 on May 27th, 2007
abated means to stop..so my guess is that it originated from that...
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Comments
Baited breath would be pretty disgusting I think!
by LynfromNM on May 27th, 2007
Mmm... Bait breath.
by Coronus42 on August 27th, 2009
gross. not even cats would be interested
by Nuttsky on September 10th, 2009