English [ edit ]

Etymology [ edit ]

A shortening of hair of the dog that bit you, a folk remedy for rabies by placing hair from the dog that bites one into the wound.[1][2] The use of the phrase as a metaphor for a hangover treatment dates at least to the 16th century.[3]

The principle of “curing like with like” has existed in various cultures historically; see hair of the dog at Wikipedia for details; the use of the phrase “hair of the dog” for a hangover cure dates to antiquity, an early form being found in the Ugaritic text KTU[4] 1.1114 line 29, where the chief god of the pantheon, 'i/el, takes some for his health. The usage is in turn a borrowing from Akkadian.[5]

Pronunciation [ edit ]

Audio (AU)

Noun [ edit ]

hair of the dog (uncountable)

( idiomatic ) An alcoholic drink, particularly when taken the morning after to cure a hangover. I'll be right back. I just need a little hair of the dog what bit me. 1818 , Rob Roy : Sir Walter Scott , chapter 12, in But with the morning cool repentance came. I felt, in the keenest manner, the violence and absurdity of my conduct, and was obliged to confess that wine and passion had lowered my intellects. . . . I descended to the breakfast hall, like a criminal to receive sentence. . . . [H]e poured out a large bumper of brandy, exhorting me to swallow "a hair of the dog that had bit me."

1841, Barnaby Rudge : Charles Dickens , chapter 52, in Ha ha! Put a good face upon it, and drink again. Another hair of the dog that bit you, captain! coffin dodger corpse reviver pick-me-up

Related terms [ edit ]

pelt of the dog ( rare, humorous )

Translations [ edit ]

See also [ edit ]

References [ edit ]