wild hair/hare

[Douglas G. Wilson]

Since 2002, more information has appeared (bigger databases) and I am
no longer so mystified. I think I may have been helped by a
correspondent on this but I can't remember for sure, so thanks to
whomever if so!

Of course the problem with "wild hair" is that a simple hair, wild or
tame, in the anus or rectum would not be distressing or exceptional.

The metaphor is less confusing, however, if one notes that "a wild
hair" is/was used for "a troublesome erratic hair, ingrown, inflamed,
and/or irritating [e.g. to the eye]". I've never heard the expression
in this sense and it may be regional or obsolescent for all I know.

At Google Books, from 1922, referring to an apical [tooth] abscess
(Smith, _Heart Affections_): <<It finally ruptured through the skin
below the chin, and the discharge of purulent material was believed
by the patient to be due to a "wild hair," ....>>

Here (and in similar examples IIRC) "wild hair" = "[?ingrown] hair
associated with a boil or abscess".

Now it's easy to see how "have a wild hair" might mean "be
irritated/agitated/etc." In particular "He can't sit still; he must
have a wild hair on his ass/butt [i.e., either buttock or perianal
region]" is perfectly understandable. I speculate that the specific
use of "up" however MAY be gratuitous rudeness, since "up one's ass"
would usually (AFAIK) refer to an internal location where there are
no hairs growing (AFAIK).

-- Doug Wilson


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