fall off the wagon

Originally fall off the water wagon or fall off 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 (1874 – c. 1959), 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.”

• "Though he fell off the wagon several times, he eventually succeeded in quitting."
• "In 2006, he checked himself into the Hazelden center in Springbrook, Ore., to be treated for an addiction to alcohol, having fallen off the wagon after some 20 years of sobriety."
• "After nearly 17 years of sobriety, Zevon fell off the wagon hard when he was diagnosed."

• relapse

• off the wagon
• on the wagon