on the wagon
English
Etymology
Early 20th century American temperance movement. Originally “on the water wagon” or “on the water cart”,[1][2][3] referring to carts used to hose down dusty roads.
Alice Hegan Rice, Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch, 1901, p. 124[4]
- I wanted to git him some whisky, but he shuck his head. ‘I'm on the water-cart,’ sez he.
Compare New York Anti-Saloon League:
- Be a good sport about it. No more falling off the water wagon. Uncle Sam will help you keep your pledge.
Adjective
- (idiomatic) Abstaining from drinking any alcoholic drink, usually in the sense of having given it up (as opposed to never having partaken).
- 1917: “Thank you, but; – er – I’m on the wagon, you know,” declined the youth. — Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Oakdale Affair [1]
- By extension, maintaining a program of self-improvement or abstinence from some other undesirable habit.
- He’s been on the smoking cessation wagon for two weeks now.
Synonyms
Antonyms
References
- ^ On the Wagon, World Wide Words, Michael Quinion
- ^ “on the wagon” in Douglas Harper, Online Etymology Dictionary (2001).
- ^ "Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson, New York, 1997.
- ^ Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch at Project Gutenberg