“The Hair of the Dog” Lives in Infamy
Most clichés originated from terms that were once clever, useful and connoted some broader meaning from hearing the phrase. These welcome, useful terms catch on and last over time but eventually get overused and then get relegated to cliché status. “The Hair of the Dog,” as an example, lives in infamy today to mean, ‘indulge again in what you overindulged, and you may feel better’. This term originated from a 16th century medical “remedy” where if you were bitten by a rabid dog, you would put the burnt hair of that dog on the wound, and the hair would supposedly act as an antidote.
