on the wagon

Idioms  

1. 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.”

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Example Sentences

People get all mad at us, but if you’re going to jump on the wagon for three weeks, which is what 90% of the population does, we’re not the place for you.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 5, 2026

There’s a couple of ways we toy with his desire to go on the wagon, so to speak, to renounce power and seek healing.

From New York Times • Oct. 14, 2022

Meghan McCain was the last to jump on the wagon with her Wednesday column in that All-American news rag, The Daily Mail.

From Salon • Jun. 3, 2022

Rather than beat yourself up over missing a day, recognize that it’s not a failure and that you can get back on the wagon tomorrow.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 5, 2022

Lighthearted now, I put one foot on the wagon axle, whistled for T.R., and swung myself to the driver’s seat.

From "Cold Sassy Tree" by Olive Ann Burns