The Hair of the Dog Cures the Bite

Last updated on April 12, 2020

When I was eight or nine years old, my aunt’s dog bit me. I had the misfortune of running into the yard while he was eating. That’s all I remember, and the pain of the bite. My aunt had a remedy ready.

Aunty M cut some of the hair of the dog, cleaned the wound, and dressed it with the dog hair before apply a plaster. I asked why she was using the hair of the dog and she had no explanation for me, except that it helps cure the wound more quickly.

Years later, I must have been 24 or 25, when a friend of mine mentioned needing “the hair of the dog”. I had never heard that phrase before, but it took me right back to the incident where I was bitten by a dog.

The Making of an Idiom

According to Grammarist, a bite made by a rabid dog was treated by packing the wound with the the hair of that dog, or making a potion to drink with the hair. This is the origin of the term, for the first century. Nowadays, the phrase is used to refer to having an alcoholic drink the next morning to fight the hangover caused by the previous evening’s overindulgence.

Funny enough, there are several idioms with the word bite:

[one’s] bark is worse than [one’s] bite

bite off more than you can chew

bite someone’s head off

bite the hand that feeds you

bite your tongue

Is it any wonder that several of these idioms concern dogs? After all, they are (apparently) human’s best friend…

Idioms are fascinating because of what they tell us about history. They are also incredibly difficult for people who are not native to the language. Are there any idioms specific to your language, culture, environment? Please share..

During April, I’m participating in the writing prompts challenge from WordPress.com. Want to participate? Find the prompts here.