Hair of the dog


"Hair of the dog", short for "Hair of the dog that bit you", is a colloquial expression in the English language predominantly used to refer to alcohol that is consumed with the aim of lessening the effects of a hangover.

Etymology

The expression originally referred to a method of treatment of a rabid dog bite by placing hair from the dog in the bite wound. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer writes in the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable : "In Scotland it is a popular belief that a few hairs of the dog that bit you applied to the wound will prevent evil consequences. Applied to drinks, it means, if overnight you have indulged too freely, take a glass of the same wine within 24 hours to soothe the nerves. 'If this dog do you bite, soon as out of your bed, take a hair of the tail the next day.'" He also cites two apocryphal poems containing the phrase, one of which is attributed to Aristophanes. It is possible that the phrase was used to justify an existing practice, as the idea of "like cures like" dates back at least to the time of Hippocrates. It exists today as the basic postulate of classical homeopathy. In the 1930s cocktails known as Corpse Revivers were served in hotels.
The earliest known reference to the phrase "hair of the dog" in connection with drunkenness is found in a text from ancient Ugarit dating from the mid to late second millennium BC, in which the god ʾIlu becomes hungover after a drinking binge. The text includes a recipe for a salve to be applied to the god's forehead, which consists of "hairs of a dog" and parts of an unknown plant mixed with olive oil.
An early example of modern usage can be found in Rabelais' 16th century pentology Gargantua and Pantagruel, literally translated by Motteux in the late 17th century.

In other languages

The phrase also exists in Hungarian, where the literal translation to English is " the dog's bite with its fur", but has evolved into a short phrase that is used frequently in other contexts when one is trying to express that the solution to a problem is more of the problem. Among the Irish and Mexicans, the phrase 'The Cure' is often used instead of 'hair of the dog'. It is used, often sarcastically, in the question "Going for a Cure?" In Costa Rica, the same expression is used but it refers to a pig as in: hair of the same pig referring to the same method to cure the hangover.
In some Slavic languages, hair of the dog is called "a wedge", mirroring the concept of dislodging a stuck wedge with another one; hence the popular Polish phrase " a wedge a wedge" - klin klinem - which is used figuratively both with regard to alcohol and in other contexts. In Bulgarian, the phrase is "Клин клин избива". The proper Russian term is :wikt:ru:опохмелка|опохмелка, which indicates a process of drinking to decrease effects of drinking the day before.
In German, drinking alcohol the next morning to relieve the symptoms is sometimes described as "having a counter-beer", whereas in Austria people talk about having a repair-beer. In Portuguese, people speak of "a hit", meaning to strike away.
A similar usage is encountered in Romanian, in the phrase "Cui pe cui se scoate" ; in Italian, in the phrase "Chiodo scaccia chiodo"; in Spanish, in the phrase "Un clavo saca otro clavo" ; and in Turkish, in the phrase "Çivi çiviyi söker". In all five cases, the English translation is "a nail dislodges a nail", though these phrases are not exclusively used to refer to the hangover cure.
In Swedish, drinking alcohol to relieve a hangover is called having an "återställare", which translates roughly to "restorer". In Norwegian, it is usually called "repareringspils", meaning a "beer to repair". In Finnish, it is called "tasoittava" or "korjaussarja" and in Czech "vyprošťovák".
In Tanzania, the equivalent Swahili phrase used is "kuzimua" which means 'assist to wake up after a coma'.
In Danish, a beer the day after drinking, is called a "reparationsbajer", which translates to "repair beer". There is also a saying: "One must rise at the tree where one fell".
In Estonia it's called "peaparandus", which literally translated is "head-repair".
In Korea, alcohol drunk in the morning to relieve hangovers is called "haejangsul", which literally translates as "a drink of wine the morning after."
In China, alcohol drunk to relieve hangover is called "回魂酒", literally translates to "the drink that brings back your soul".
The phrase also exists in Swahili Slang: In Kenya taking alcohol to relieve a hangover is called " Kutoa Lock" Translated into "removing the Lock"
In Japan, drinking alcohol in the morning after drinking too much is called :jp:迎え酒|迎え酒, which roughly translates as "counter drinking".
In Puerto Rico, drinking alcohol as a remedy for a hangover is called "matar al ratón", or "to kill the mouse"

Scientific background

There are at least two hypotheses as to how "hair of the dog" works. In the first, hangovers are described as the first stage of alcohol withdrawal, which is then alleviated by further alcohol intake. Although "...Low doses may effectively prevent alcohol withdrawal syndrome in surgical patients", this idea is questionable as the signs and symptoms of hangover and alcohol withdrawal are very different.
In the second, hangovers are partly attributed to methanol metabolism. Levels of methanol, present as a congener in alcohol, have been correlated with severity of hangover and methanol metabolism to the highly toxic formate via formaldehyde coincides with the rate of appearance of hangover symptoms. As both ethanol and methanol are metabolised by alcohol dehydrogenase – and ethanol is a much better substrate for this enzyme – drinking more of the former then effectively prevents the metabolism of the latter. As pure ethanol consumption has also been found to increase endogenous levels of methanol, presumably for this reason, this suggests that if "hair of the dog" works in this way it effects a temporary hiatus rather than a cure.

In popular culture

In the videogame The Curse of Monkey Island, the main character Guybrush Threepwood needs to make a hangover remedy, which literally includes "the hair of the dog that bit you" as an ingredient.
In the Stanley Kubrick film The Shining, Jack Nicholson's character uses the phrase in reference to the consumption of bourbon on consecutive nights.