By extension, maintaining a program of self-improvement or abstinence from some other undesirable habit.
Etymology:
- Originally on the water wagon or on the water cart, referring to carts used to hose down dusty roads: 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, 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.”
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Submitted on September 01, 2009
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Nearby phrases
Some more phrases from our dictionary similar to on the wagon
hitch your wagon to a star!the wheels fell off the wagonlike buzzards on a gut wagonFix Your Wagonhitch one's wagon to a starHitch Your Wagon to a Starfix someone's wagoncold as a wagon tireshe would rip a dog off a gut wagonthe wheels came off the wagonpaint the wagonfall off the wagonoff the wagon
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"on the wagon." Phrases.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 22 Dec. 2024. <https://www.phrases.com/phrase/on-the-wagon_5805>.
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