The term ‘hair of the dog’ has been around since the 16th century. So, no my dear millennials, you did not invent it. Currently meaning the idea of lessening the effects of a hangover by further intoxication, it had a different meaning when it originated. It all started with the belief that if bitten by a rabid dog, applying the same dog’s hair on the affected area would cure it. The association with alcohol proposes that, though beverage intake is to blame for the hangover (as is the dog for the attack), another serving of the same will; perplexingly, act as a cure. And so, an old Scottish saying goes:
‘If this dog do you bite, soon as out of your bed, take a hair of the tail the next day.’