Yorkshire folk, and anyone else that might say it?

Question

why is drinking a beer to feel better after a night on the razz called hair of the dog?

Answer 1

Instances of the phrase have appeared in English literature since the time of William Shakespeare. Ebenezer Cobham Brewer writes in the Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898): "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 next morning to soothe the nerves. 'If this dog do you bite, soon as out of your bed, take a hair of the tail in the morning.'" He also cites two apocryphal poems containing the phrase, one of which is attributed to Aristophanes. It is not known whether the idea of like curing like with like, or the practice (which may have other psychological causes) came first. Certainly it is possible that the phrase was used to justify an existing practice. It is also possible that the modern use of the phrase arose as a metaphor for that idea and did not have a former basis in practice.

The phrase is also used in a more general context to mean "a little dose of something which caused your problems in the first place," can be used to cure the problem. The phrase may have some roots in the Latin phrase Similia similibus curantur.

Answer 2

It is called "hair of the dog" because: You are feeling bad, due to excess consumption, so a little of what knocked you down is supposed to help the situation, so you call the booze the dog, you have a small amount the next morning, this is "the hair of the dog" A fried egg sandwich works better, a pint of water before you go to bed, better still!

Answer 3

I think it goes back many hundreds of years when it was thought that being bitten by a dog would have evil consequences...werewolves etc...It was thought that applying some hair from the animal would ward off evil spirits...it now applies to drinking to excess and the thought that a little of what did the harm can cure you....my experience is that it makes you feel worse.....

Answer 4

The hair of the dog which bit you. Probably associated with some myth about rabies, I don't think it's particularly Yorkshire. It means curing your morning hangover with a quick shot of alcohol.

Answer 5

the hair of the dog that bit you. something to do with old witches/wives tails. if you got bit by a dog, you had to get a hair from the back of that dog and wear it or drink a potion from it to make it better.. not really sure what you had to do with it but thats where the saying comes from.

Answer 6

Richmond is right, (and what a great leg!).

Except the "hair of the dog that bite you" refers to the old wives tale for the only cure for rabies.

So what bit you (alcohol) can cure you... Good news!

Answer 7

Sympathetic magic/ early 'medicine'
They would you a 'hair of the dog that bit you' to treat rabies.

Answer 8

I say that too (infact I think everyone says it, in all parts of the UK), but at the moment I haven't a scooby as to why.