Chrysti the Wordsmith > Radio Scripts

Someone who refrains from drinking alcohol is, in the world of slang, on the wagon. So just what wagon might these erstwhile tipplers be riding on?

The vehicle in this late 19th century expression of abstinence was a horse drawn water wagon, used to sprinkle water on dirt roads to keep dust from flying. It's said that during the apex of the Temperence movement of the 1890s, men pledging abstinence from spirits claimed they would rather climb aboard the wagon for a drink of dirty water than touch a drop of alcohol.

The expression was quite common in America by 1904. The American Dialect Society distributed a publication in that year which said, "'To be on the water wagon' [means] to abstain from hard drinks." Today, of course, we know this phrase best without the "water" in it.

Predictably, an antonym quickly arose to describe someone who had abandoned his pledge of sobriety. Thirsty for something stronger than water, the backslider was said to have fallen off the water wagon, or just fallen off the wagon.

Radio Script > On the Wagon