Keep your hair on!

There are several expressions in English to do with hair. Here are some of them.

To let your hair down is to relax and enjoy yourself, but if your hair stands on end, you are very frightened or horrified by something. If something is hair-raising, it is terrifying, but if you don't turn a hair, you keep very calm. To split hairs is to be very pedantic and fuss over very small points, and if you miss something by a hair's breadth, you miss it by a very small margin. If you have a close shave, you narrowly escape an unpleasant experience. Keep your hair on! means keep calm and don't get angry. Finally, to have a hair of the dog that bit you (or simply to have a hair of the dog) means to have another drink in order to cure a hangover.

Exercise

Now try to complete these sentences using the appropriate expression with hair.

Answers are below.

1. Don't shout at the children. Keep ______ __________ _________.
   

2. We really had a good party last week - we all _____ _______ _______ _________.
   

3. Don't let's _____ ________ over small differences - they're not important.
   

4. I had too much to drink last night. I'd better have ______ ___ _ ________ _______ ________.
   

5. She didn't _____ __ ______ even when the crowd started shouting at her.
   

6. He told some really frightening stories - they made my ______ ________ ____ ______.

Answers

1. your hair on	4. a hair of the dog (that bit me)
2. let our hair down	5. turn a hair
3. split hairs	6. hair stand on end

Body Language

---