off the wagon
Back to booze
Off the wagon means having resumed drinking alcohol after a period of abstinence.
The wagon refers to the water wagon—someone who had sworn off liquor was "on the water wagon," drinking only water.
To fall or go off the wagon is to break that commitment: He was sober for three years before he fell off the wagon.
The phrase sometimes extends to other addictions or bad habits.
- slip upMinor mistake or error
- backslideRevert to bad habits
- sobrietyUnimpaired mental state
- temptationUrge toward the unwise
- white knuckleCausing tense fear
moment of weakness · fall from grace · hit the bottle · relapse · triggers · downward spiral · abstinence · rehabilitation · denial · self-control · dry drunk · sober curious · detoxification · cravings · old habits die hard · slip and slide · guilt · intervention
- Alcoholismalcoholism, alcoholic, alcohol abuse, alcohol addiction, alcohol dependence
- recoveryrecovery, sobriety, rehab, recover, recovery room
- drunk slangdrunk, wasted, hammered, smashed, plastered
off the wagonsobering up
Returning to sobriety
drying out · back on track · on the mend · kicking the habit