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The Kitchen Table

Phrase of the day 12/9

jim_1 (Zone 5B)

5 years ago

On the wagon

This phrase, meaning to abstain from drinking alcoholic spirits is a contraction of the old and more explicit on the water wagon. It has been in the American idiom since at least the turn of the 20th century. The corollary phrase off the wagon is of more recent vintage – if that is the word for it.

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rockypointdog
5 years ago
Always interesting to hear the origin of phrases we use so much!
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