To raise (or lift) Hair, verb. phr. (Amerian).—To scalp; hence, idiomatically, to defeat; to kill. To keep one's hair = to escape a danger.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, p. 194. Kit Carson . . . had raised more hair from the red-skins than any two men in the Western country.
1891. Gunter, Miss Nobody, p. 101. If you'll take the chances of keeping your hair.
To comb one's Hair, verb. phr. (common).—To castigate; to monkey (q.v.). See Comb one's Hair, ante.
To hold (or keep) one's Hair (or Wool) on, verb. phr. (common).—To keep one's temper; to avoid excitement; to take easily. Also to keep one's shirt on, or to pull down one's jacket (or vest). Fr., être calme et inodore.
1885. Bret Harte, A Ship of '49, ch. vi. 'But what the devil' interrupted the young man impetuously. 'Keep yer hair on!' remonstrated the old man with dark intelligence.
1892. Milliken, 'Arry Ballads, p. 78. Do keep your 'air on, dear pal.
1892. Cassell's Sat. Jour., 5 Oct., p. 45, c. 1. 'Who make devil's row like that all night?' he asked. 'Keep your hair on, Moses Trinko,' replied the reception fficer, cheerily.
A Hair of the Black Bear (or B'ar), subs. phr. (American).—A spice of the devil.
1848. Ruxton, Life in the Far West, . 6. Thar was old grit in him, too, and hair of the black b'ar at that.
To get one's Hair Cut, verb. phr. (venery).—To visit a woman; to see a sick friend (q.v.). For synonyms, see Greens and Ride.
1892. Anstey, Model Music Hall, 154. Tommy. What, Uncle, going? The W. U. (with assumed jauntiness). Just to get my hair cut.
To make one's hair stand on end, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To astonish.
1697. Vanbrugh, Provoked Wife, lv., 4. It's well you are come: I'm so frightened, my hair stands on end.
1886. J. S. Winter, Army Society ch. iii. If I were to tell you some incidents of my life since you and I last met, I should make your hair stand on end.
A Hair of the Dog that Bit you, subs. phr. (common).—A 'pick-me-up' after a debauch. [Apparently a memory of the superstition, which was and still is common, that, being bitten by a dog, one cannot do better than pluck a handful of hair from him, and lay it on the wound. Also figuratively, see quot. 1888.]
1531. Bovilli, Prov. ii., xvi. siècle, t. i., p. 102. Du poil de la beste qui te mordis, Ou de son sanc sera guéris.
1546. Heywood, Proverbs [1874], 79 What how fellow, thou knave, I pray thee let me and my fellow have A haire of the dog that bit us last night. And bitten were we bothe to the braine aright.
1614. Jonson, Bartholomew Fayre, I 'Twas a hot night with some of us, last night, John: shall we pluck a hair of the same wolf to-day, proctor John?
1738. Swift, Polite Convers., Dial 2 Lady Gur. But, Sir John, your ale is terrible strong and heady. . . . Sir John Why, indeed, it is apt to fox one; but our way is to take a hair of the same dog next morning.
1841. Dickens, B. Rudge, ch. lii. Put a good face upon it, and drink again Another hair of the dog that bit you, captain!
1888. Detroit Free Press. 'Talk of the Day,' 3 Nov. Travis.—'Hello, De Smith! You're looking better thant expected. I understood that you were completely crushed by that love affair. How did you recover?' De Smith—'Hair of the dog that bit me. Fell in love with another girl.
