I'll bite

English

Etymology

Suggesting a fish taking bait. Compare troll, bait.

Phrase

I'll bite

1. (colloquial) Indicating that one doubts that a question is being asked in seriousness or good faith, but is willing to respond in earnest.

   —Why did the chicken cross the road? —OK, I'll bite. Why did it cross the road?

   • 2013 November 21, Brian Fung, “Everything you need to know about in-flight cellphone rules”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], Washington, D.C.: The Washington Post Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 August 2023:

     Are there security concerns we haven't thought of? What if someone, I don't know, puts a bomb someplace, hops on a plane and detonates it remotely? ¶ Sounds like you've been watching a few too many action movies. Okay, I'll bite.

   • 2015 October 2, Devon Maloney, “Heroes Reborn Recap: One of Us, One of Them”, in Vulture‎^[2], archived from the original on 2022-08-14:

     Who is trying to nab Tommy? What is his mom's power?! ¶ All right, fine. I'll bite.

   • 2020 October 11, Barbara Ellen, “John Lydon: ’Don’t become entrenched in one opinion and get stuck there for ever’”, in The Observer‎^[3], London: Guardian News & Media, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 15 October 2023:

     OK, I'll bite: political correctness may not be perfect, but isn't its aim to empower and protect? "It's taken too far, though. Death by committee, trying to slam your dictates into another person's face. That's not healthy."

2. (colloquial) Indicating that one is willing to engage with a potentially difficult or inconvenient situation.

   This isn't usually my type of movie, but I'll bite.

   • 1932 December 25, T. Hayden Hamilton, “In Defense of Engineers: They Are Presented as Conscientious, Hard-Working, Sympathetic Scientists”, in The New York Times‎^[4] (letter), New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-08-10, page E2:

     To the Editor of The New York Times: Referring to your "Topics of The Times" leading off with "Science in the Saddle," I can only believe such an article was printed for the sole purpose of drawing fire. I'll bite and I hope others more competent than I am have deluged you with rebuttals of absurd statements made therein.

   • 2013 August 13, Chris Kohler, “I Don't Need Your Torture, DuckTales Remastered”, in Wired‎^[5], San Francisco, C.A.: Condé Nast Publications, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2023-02-07:

     Designers made their games really hard because their games were really short, and they had to encourage you to play them over and over. […] But okay. I'll bite. Let's try a game with NES-era difficulty. So I go back into the Amazon. This time I'm a lot better.

   • 2016 July 5, “Sober Stick Figure: A Unique and Hilarious Story of Alcoholism and Recovery”, in HuffPost‎^[6], archived from the original on 2023-08-10:

     As a recovery advocate and blogger, I get a lot of requests from authors who want me to read and write about their books. Most of the time, I decline. But every once in a while, if the book seems interesting enough, I'll bite. This is one of those times I'm glad I did.

   • 2019 January 25, Dan Ozzi, “The Whole Weezer/"Africa" Thing Was My Fault and I'm So Sorry”, in VICE‎^[7], archived from the original on 2023-05-09:

     "Please RT if you want to help make Ohio teen @weezerafrica's simple, wholesome dream come true of seeing rock band @Weezer cover Africa by Toto," he tweeted. Luke is an occasional Noisey writer, and is very adept at wandering into the dark rooms of the internet and causing trouble in them. So my interest was piqued. "OK, I'll bite," I thought, and gave Luke's tweet the one true currency left in our capitalist hell world: my Click.

3. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see I'll,‎ bite.
   • 2023 February 1, Carol Midgley, quoting Iain Duncan Smith, “House pomposity is one of the few remaining joys in British life”, in The Times‎^[8], London: News UK, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 1 February 2023:

     I suspect fruity language is lavishly used on building sites and in 10 Downing Street, but not so much in middle-ranking jobs. Iain Duncan Smith once told a Treasury mandarin on the phone "If you ever speak to my officials like that again I'll bite your balls off and send them to you in a box."

Usage notes

• Now usually preceded by OK (and other forms), as in OK, I'll bite.

References

• “I'll bite” in Idioms and phrases, TheFreeDictionary.com, Huntingdon Valley, Pa.: Farlex, Inc., 2003–2024.