fall off the wagon

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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.”

10 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Chinese Mandarin: 故态复萌 (gù tài fù méng) — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Danish: falde af vandvognen — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• French: replonger — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Hungarian: visszaesik/elcsábul, és újra iszik/inni kezd/italhoz nyúl — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Italian: ricadere nel vizio — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Polish: wracać do nałogu — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Polish: wrócić do nałogu — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Russian: развяза́ть (razvjazátʹ) — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Russian: сорва́ться (sorvátʹsja) — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction
• Spanish: recaer — to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction