[Ads-l] Hair of the dog

[Jonathan Lighter]

The OED records the practice from the mid-18th century, but the phrase,
applied to drinking, goes back more than 200 years before that.

But though _The Kitchin-physician, or, A guide for good-housewives in
maintaining their families in health_ , by "T. K., Doctor in
Physick"(London: Samuel Lee, 1680), recommends the "hair of the dog that
bit you" as a treatment for hangover, no such advice is given "Against the
biting of a Mad-dog."

For that, "Eat sweet brier-wort, and wash the hurt with a young Childs
Piss, or with the decoction of Rhue, Figs, red-Coleworts, and Salt mingled
with honey and butter."

JL

On Fri, Jan 1, 2021 at 1:14 PM David Daniel <dad at coarsecourses.com> wrote:

> Dictionary.com is saying that the expression "hair of the dog" or the
> longer
> version "hair of the dog that bit you" comes from an old practice of
> putting
> actual hair from the actual offending dog into the wound of the dog's bite
> as protection against rabies. Is that correct?
> Happy New Year, all.
> DAD
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>


-- 
"If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."

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The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org