"Hair of the dog", short for "hair of the dog that bit you", is acolloquial expression in the English language predominantly used to refer toalcohol that is consumed as ahangover remedy (with the aim of lessening the effects of ahangover). Many other languages have their own phrase to describe the same concept. The idea may have some basis in science in the difference betweenethanol andmethanol metabolism.
The expression originally referred to a method of treatment for arabid dog bite by placing hair from the dog in the bite wound.[1]Ebenezer Cobham Brewer writes in theDictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): "InScotland 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 twoapocryphal poems containing the phrase, one of which is attributed toAristophanes. It is possible that the phrase was used to justify an existing practice, as the idea of "like cures like" (Latin:similia similibus curantur) dates back at least to the time ofHippocrates. The idea was also postulated byPliny the Elder, who wrote "When a person has been bitten by a mad dog, he may be preserved from hydrophobia by applying the ashes of a dog's head to the wound." Likewise he claimed one could "insert in the wound ashes of hairs from the tail of the dog that inflicted the bite."[2] This idea exists today as the basic postulate ofclassical homeopathy.
An early example of modern usage (poil de ce chien) can be found inRabelais' 16th-century pentalogyGargantua and Pantagruel,[3] literally translated byMotteux in the late 17th century.[4]
In the 1930s cocktails known asCorpse Revivers were served in hotels.[5]
The phrase also exists inHungarian, where the literal translation to English is "(You may cure) the dog's bite with its fur", but has evolved into a short phrase ("kutyaharapást szőrével") 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 theIrish and Mexicans, the phrase "The Cure" (curarse la cruda in Spanish) is often used instead of "hair of the dog".[6] It is used, often sarcastically, in the question "Going for a Cure?". InPortuguese, people speak of "a rebound" (uma rebatida), meaning the recoil of the hangover).[citation needed]
In some Slavic languages (Polish, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Croatian, Serbian, Slovenian, and Russian), hair of the dog is called "a wedge" (klin), mirroring the concept of dislodging a stuck wedge with another one; hence the popularPolish phrase "[to dislodge] a wedge [with] a wedge" –[wybijać] klin klinem – which is used figuratively both with regard to alcohol and in other contexts. InBulgarian, the phrase is Клин клин избива (using the "wedge" metaphor common in other Slavic languages). The proper Russian term isопохмелка (opohmelka, "after being drunk"), which indicates a process of drinking to decrease effects of drinking the day before.[citation needed] In Estonia, the phrase used ispeaparandus, which literally translated is "head-repair".
A similar usage is encountered inRomanian, in the phraseCui pe cui se scoate ("A nail (fastener) pulls out a nail"); inItalian, in the phraseChiodo scaccia chiodo;[7] inSpanish, in the phraseUn clavo saca otro clavo ("A nail pulls out another nail"). In all three cases, the English translation is "a nail dislodges a nail", though these phrases are not exclusively used to refer to the hangover cure.[citation needed]
InGerman, drinking alcohol the next morning to relieve the symptoms is sometimes described as "having a counter-beer" (ein Konterbier trinken),.[8] In Austria people talk about having a "repair-beer" (Reparatur-Seidl).[9]
The Dutch have also coined theportmanteauxreparadler andreparipa, referring toRadler andIPA as repair beverages. The term "Morning-afterpils" is also used ("pils" being one of the most popular types of beer in the Netherlands).[citation needed]
InNorwegian it is usually calledrepareringspils, meaning a "beer to repair". InCzech, it is calledvyprošťovák ("extricator"). InSwedish, drinking alcohol to relieve a hangover is called having anåterställare, which translates roughly to "restorer". InDanish, a beer the day after drinking is called areparationsbajer, which translates to "repair beer". There is also a saying: "One must rise at the tree where one fell". Similarly, inDutch, the termreparatiebier is frequently used, which also translates to "repair beer".
InFinnish, consuming alcohol the next day is calledtasoittava ("smoothener", "equalizer"),loiventava ("leveller") orkorjaussarja ("a repair kit"). Also the phraseSillä se lähtee millä tulikin that translates to "What caused it, will also cure it", describes the same concept.[10][11]
InFrench,soigner le mal par le mal ("cure evil with evil") refers to the ancient belief of fitting a disease with the same origins and is said in case of a hangover as you drink again.
InIcelandic, a hangover cure is calledAfréttari, translating to "a straightener", which plays upon the idea that if you are feeling hungover, the first drink will "straighten you out" or lift you back up to your normal state.
In Colombia, the same expresion is used:pelo del mismo perro ("hair of the same dog"). In Costa Rica (Central America), the dog is replaced with a pig, as in "hair of the same pig" (pelos de la misma chancha in Central America).[citation needed] In Puerto Rico, the relevant expression ismatar al ratón, or "to kill the mouse".
The earliest known reference to the phrase "hair of the dog" in connection with drunkenness is found in a text from ancientUgarit dating from the mid to late second millennium BC, in which the godʾIlu becomes hungover after a drinking binge. The text includes a recipe for a salve to be applied to the forehead, which consists of "hairs of a dog" and parts of an unknown plant mixed with olive oil.[12]
In Korea, alcohol (typicallysoju) drunk in the morning to relieve hangovers is calledhaejangsul (해장술), which literally translates as "a drink that relieves the bowels". In China, alcohol drunk to relieve a hangover is calledhuíhúnjiǔ (回魂酒), which literally translates as "the drink that brings back your soul".[13] In Japan, the equivalent phrase ismukaezake (迎え酒), which can be literally translated as "alcohol for facing (greeting) the next day."
InCape Afrikaans, drinking alcohol to cure a hangover (babbelas) is calledkopskiet, or "shot to the head".[14] In Tanzania, the equivalentSwahili phrase used iskuzimua, which means "assist to wake up after a coma". The phrase also exists in (Sheng) Swahili Slang: in Kenya, taking alcohol to relieve a hangover is calledkutoa lock, translating to "removing the lock".
There are at least two hypotheses as to how "hair of the dog" works. In the first, hangovers are viewed as the first stage ofalcohol withdrawal, which is then alleviated by further alcohol intake. Although "...Low [ethanol] doses may effectively prevent alcohol withdrawal syndrome in surgical patients",[15] this idea is questionable as the signs and symptoms of hangover and alcohol withdrawal are very different.[16]
In the second, hangovers are partly attributed tomethanol metabolism.[17][18] Levels of methanol, present as acongener in alcohol, have been correlated with severity of hangover[19][20] and methanol metabolism to the highly toxicformate viaformaldehyde[21] coincides with the rate of appearance of hangover symptoms.[22] As both ethanol and methanol are metabolized byalcohol dehydrogenase – and this enzyme has a greater binding affinity for ethanol than for methanol[23] – drinking more of the former effectively prevents (or delays) the metabolism of the latter.
