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English
A mule-drawn waterwagon for street cleaning in St. Louis, Missouri, USA, c. 1900–1910. The term off the wagon is a reference to such wagons.
Etymology
Originally off the water wagon or off the water cart, referring to carts used to hose down dusty roads:[1][2][3] see the 1901 quotation below. The suggestion is that a person who is “on the wagon” is drinking water rather than alcoholicbeverages. 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.”
^ Douglas Harper (2001–2025) “wagon”, in Online Etymology Dictionary, retrieved 2019-10-08: “Phrase on the wagon "abstaining from alcohol" is attested by 1904, originally on the water cart.”
^ Robert Hendrickson (1997) The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins, rev. and exp. edition, New York, N.Y.: Facts On File, →ISBN.
