on the wagon
Related to on the wagon: off the wagon
on the wagon
Maintaining one's sobriety; abstaining from alcohol or drugs. The common phrase "off the wagon" is used to indicate the opposite. I'm much healthier now that I'm on the wagon, but I find it hard to socialize with my friends. Thinking about my daughter's future helps keep me on the wagon.
See also: on, wagon
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
on the wagon
Fig. not drinking alcohol. No, I don't care for a cocktail. I'm on the wagon. Bob's old drinking buddies complained that he was no fun when he went on the wagon.
See also: on, wagon
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
on the wagon
Abstaining from drinking alcoholic beverages, as in Don't offer her wine; she's on the wagon. This expression is a shortening of on the water wagon, referring to the horse-drawn water car once used to spray dirt roads to keep down the dust. Its present meaning dates from about 1900. The antonym off the wagon, used for a resumption of drinking, dates from the same period. B.J. Taylor used it in Extra Dry (1906): "It is better to have been on and off the wagon than never to have been on at all."
See also: on, wagon
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
on the wagon
If someone is on the wagon, they have stopped drinking alcohol. I'm on the wagon for a while. Cleaning out my system. Note: You can say that someone falls off the wagon when they start to drink alcohol again after a period of not drinking it. Sadly, he fell off the wagon after 12 dry years. Note: Originally the expression was `on the water wagon' or `water cart'. Water carts were horse-drawn carts used for transporting water or for sprinkling the streets. If someone was `on the wagon', they were drinking water and not alcohol.
See also: on, wagon
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
on the wagon
teetotal. informalThis expression originated in early 20th-century American use in the form on the water wagon , the implication being that a person on the water wagon would eschew alcohol in favour of water.
1989 Michael Norman These Good Men I'll just have a club soda with a twist of lime…I'm on the wagon.
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Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
on the wagon
mod. not now drinking alcoholic liquor. How long has John been on the wagon this time?
See also: on, wagon
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
on the wagon
Slang Abstaining from alcoholic beverages.
See also: on, wagon
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition.
- be on the wagon
- be/go on the wagon
- on the wagon, to be
- from my cold, dead hands
- beck and call
- walk the chalk
- and the rest
- eggs is eggs
- off the wagon
- going, going, gone!