off the wagon

English

A mule-drawn water wagon for street cleaning in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, c. 1900–1910. The term off the wagon is a reference to such wagons.

Etymology

Originally off the water wagon or off the water cart, referring to carts used to hose down dusty roads:^[1]^[2]^[3] see the 1901 quotation below. The suggestion is that a person who is “on the wagon” is drinking water rather than alcoholic beverages. The term may have been used by the early 20th-century temperance movement in the United States; for instance, William Hamilton Anderson (1874 – c. 1959), the superintendent of the New York Anti-Saloon League, is said to have made the following remark about Prohibition: “Be a good sport about it. No more falling off the water wagon. Uncle Sam will help you keep your pledge.”

Pronunciation

Audio (General Australian): (file)

Prepositional phrase

off the wagon

(idiomatic) No longer maintaining a program of self-improvement or abstinence from an undesirable habit, especially drinking alcohol.
She kept up her diet for an entire month before falling off the wagon.

He is off the wagon again.

Antonyms

on the wagon

Related terms

fall off the wagon

References

^ Michael Quinion (created July 18, 1998, last updated January 27, 2006) “On the wagon”, in World Wide Words.
^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “wagon”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 2019-10-08: “Phrase on the wagon "abstaining from alcohol" is attested by 1904, originally on the water cart.”
^ Robert Hendrickson (1997) The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, rev. and exp. edition, New York, N.Y.: Facts On File, →ISBN.