Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
back off the wagon
English answer:
start drinking again
Added to glossary by
allp
May 27, 2006 22:30
17 yrs ago
English term
back off the wagon
English
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
I cannot find any definition of the idiom, and from looking it up in the web it seems to me that there are two contrary meanings - one is to do sth excessively, and the other just the opposite - to completely quit doing sth.
Here are examples of both meanings:
1. I just think of a smoker being like an alcoholic, don't have that 1 fag or you fall back off the wagon.
2. Since Magoo's intervention at Miss Karli's house a couple of weeks ago to confront him about his serious drinking problem, he's made great strides and has fallen back off the wagon as we'd hoped. He's back in the sauce, so to speak, guzzling mommy-milk, water, diluted juice and his new favorite soy milk, or as Laylee calls it sorry milk.
So which one is it - or does the idiom work both ways?
Here are examples of both meanings:
1. I just think of a smoker being like an alcoholic, don't have that 1 fag or you fall back off the wagon.
2. Since Magoo's intervention at Miss Karli's house a couple of weeks ago to confront him about his serious drinking problem, he's made great strides and has fallen back off the wagon as we'd hoped. He's back in the sauce, so to speak, guzzling mommy-milk, water, diluted juice and his new favorite soy milk, or as Laylee calls it sorry milk.
So which one is it - or does the idiom work both ways?
Responses
Change log
May 27, 2006 22:30: changed "Kudoz queue" from "In queue" to "Public"
May 27, 2006 23:08: Kim Metzger changed "Level" from "Non-PRO" to "PRO"
Responses
+8
13 mins
Paul Merriam
Native in English
&
English
Years of experience
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, Polish to English, German to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
Selected
start drinking again
In the first case, the author believes that you either are a smoker or aren't one. The analogy is with an alcoholic.
In the second case, "he" is apparently a baby who wasn't drinking fluids of any sorts. Magoo has managed to get "him" to start drinking fluids again (though not alcoholic ones, hence the "so to speak").
In the second case, "he" is apparently a baby who wasn't drinking fluids of any sorts. Magoo has managed to get "him" to start drinking fluids again (though not alcoholic ones, hence the "so to speak").
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Kim Metzger
: OK - that makes sense. A baby who's drinking properly again. The baby's drinking problem was that he wasn't drinking enough good things.
23 mins
|
| agree |
Asghar Bhatti
2 hrs
|
| agree |
Giulia Barontini
: Absolutely!
4 hrs
|
| agree |
sarahl (X)
7 hrs
|
| agree |
David Moore (X)
8 hrs
|
| agree |
Alfa Trans (X)
9 hrs
|
| agree |
Isodynamia
11 hrs
|
| agree |
Gail Patricia Bulla - nee Charrion
1 day 15 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you! :)"
10 mins
This idiom usually only applies to drinking alcohol excessively so...
in this case, it is being applied to a smoker who is being told not to have even one cigarette or he/she will go back to smoking heavily again. Alcoholics who stop drinking must not have even one little drink or they will go back to the habit of drinking heavily.
It is not easy to understand in your examples but this is what it really means anyway.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/fall off the wagon
It is not easy to understand in your examples but this is what it really means anyway.
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/fall off the wagon
8 mins
Dave Calderhead
Netherlands
Netherlands
Native in English
&
English
Netherlands
Reliable translations, reasonable rates
Native in: English
Works in: Dutch to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
returned to old drinking habit
on the wagon usually means not drinking alcohol,
so back off the wagon usually means back to dring alcohol again after having sword off it for some time.
The Magoo context doesn't really make any sense, unless the character used to compulsively drink dsoft drinks, then starte d drinking alcoholic drinks for a while, then went back to the soft drinks compulsively
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Note added at 11 mins (2006-05-27 22:41:38 GMT)
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should read 'drinking alcohol after having sworn off it for some time'
so back off the wagon usually means back to dring alcohol again after having sword off it for some time.
The Magoo context doesn't really make any sense, unless the character used to compulsively drink dsoft drinks, then starte d drinking alcoholic drinks for a while, then went back to the soft drinks compulsively
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 11 mins (2006-05-27 22:41:38 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
should read 'drinking alcohol after having sworn off it for some time'
13 mins
Paula Vaz-Carreiro
Native in English
&
English
Specializes in field
Benchmark Translations
Native in: Portuguese 
, English
Works in: Portuguese, English to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
4
on the wagon
to be 'on the wagon' means to deliberately abstain from alcoholic drinks for a long period of time ("I'll just have orange juice because the doctor put me on the wagon")
So in your first example, to be on the wagon would be to not smoke - if you smoke you will fall off of the wagon on non-smoking.
Your second example does indeed seem to contradict this - is the source perfectly reliable? Could they have made a mistake?
So in your first example, to be on the wagon would be to not smoke - if you smoke you will fall off of the wagon on non-smoking.
Your second example does indeed seem to contradict this - is the source perfectly reliable? Could they have made a mistake?
Discussion
Also, I came across this site: http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.
pperl?date=20001215
and it confirms something that I've noticed before - that the phrase is used not only in relation to alcohol and other abusive substances, but to politics, dieting and other 'vices' as well.
Thank you all for putting me straight at this late hour! I will close the question tomorrow.