Maltz thought maybe an early form of torture or execution was hanging people by their hair, but he wasn't totally sure about this and may have just been reacting to the homophony.

"Long hair" can be jIb tIq. This is also the most common way to refer to a single long hair or several strands or a lock of long hair no longer on someone's head. A common way to refer to a coiffure of long hair is to say that the hair has grown: Qa jIb (even if you're talking about a wig!).

Similarly, jIb run can be used for "short hair," though another, perhaps more common, locution is to say the hair has been cut or trimmed: jIb chIplu'bogh (or jIb chIpbogh if the cutter is known or jIbwIj DachIpbogh if you cut my hair, and so on). A single short strand of hair or a lock of shorter hairs no longer on a head would be jIb wIl rather than jIb run. How short "short" is and how long "long" is depends on context. A "long stick" may be a meter; a "short rope" may be a meter.