cease being good. A variation of the
phrase off the
wagon, meaning drinking liquor again after
having stopped for awhile.
a coined expression meaning to
stop being good or to
quit restraining oneself from doing
evil. This is a variation of the
phrase off the
wagon, which means to begin drinking
alcohol again after a
period of abstinence; to no longer be under a
pledge to abstain from liquor. Off the
wagon originated around the
late nineteenth century and beginning of the twentieth century and refers to the wagons (called water carts) that would spray water over
American dirt roads to keep the dust down. If a person troubled with a dusty throat, wished to have something to drink, but sought to avoid whiskey or other strong beverage, he could be said to be "climbing
aboard the water cart" or "on the water
wagon." The
phrase off the
wagon can also
refer to anything about which a person has ceased being moderate.