"fall off the wagon" meaning in English

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  "etymology_text": "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.”",
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      "form": "falls off the wagon",
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      "form": "falling off the wagon",
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        "present"
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    {
      "form": "fell off the wagon",
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        "past"
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      "form": "fallen off the wagon",
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        "participle",
        "past"
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      "name": "en-verb"
    }
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
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          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Alcoholic beverages",
          "orig": "en:Alcoholic beverages",
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            "Recreational drugs",
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            "Food and drink",
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          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Road transport",
          "orig": "en:Road transport",
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            "Transport",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
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        }
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "Though he fell off the wagon several times, he eventually succeeded in quitting."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 August 11, Dave Itzkoff, “Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63 in Suspected Suicide”, in New York Times",
          "text": "In 2006, he checked himself into the Hazelden center in Springbrook, Ore., to be treated for an addiction to alcohol, having fallen off the wagon after some 20 years of sobriety.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 September 8, Steven Hyden, “His Sh*t’s F***ed Up: The Complicated Legacy of Warren Zevon”, in The Ringer, retrieved 2018-09-08",
          "text": "After nearly 17 years of sobriety, Zevon fell off the wagon hard when he was diagnosed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To cease or fail at a regimen of self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an old habit or addiction."
      ],
      "id": "en-fall_off_the_wagon-en-verb-l1ZhFP9C",
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        [
          "cease",
          "cease"
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        [
          "fail",
          "fail"
        ],
        [
          "reform",
          "reform"
        ],
        [
          "lapse",
          "lapse"
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        [
          "habit",
          "habit"
        ],
        [
          "addiction",
          "addiction"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To cease or fail at a regimen of self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an old habit or addiction."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "off the wagon"
        },
        {
          "word": "on the wagon"
        }
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      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "relapse"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "falde af vandvognen"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "replonger"
        },
        {
          "code": "hu",
          "lang": "Hungarian",
          "note": "the latter three options are given for drinking, but can be replaced by other addictions",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "visszaesik/elcsábul, és újra iszik/inni kezd/italhoz nyúl"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "razvjazátʹ",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "развяза́ть"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "sorvátʹsja",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "сорва́ться"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
          "word": "recaer"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Michael Quinion",
        "New York Anti-Saloon League",
        "William Hamilton Anderson",
        "temperance movement in the United States"
      ]
    }
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  "word": "fall off the wagon"
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        "short": "yes"
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  "etymology_text": "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.”",
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      "form": "falls off the wagon",
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        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
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    {
      "form": "falling off the wagon",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fell off the wagon",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "fallen off the wagon",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
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      "args": {
        "1": "fall<,,fell,fallen> off the wagon"
      },
      "expansion": "fall off the wagon (third-person singular simple present falls off the wagon, present participle falling off the wagon, simple past fell off the wagon, past participle fallen off the wagon)",
      "name": "en-verb"
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  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "off the wagon"
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    {
      "word": "on the wagon"
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        "en:Alcoholic beverages",
        "en:Road transport"
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        {
          "text": "Though he fell off the wagon several times, he eventually succeeded in quitting."
        },
        {
          "ref": "2014 August 11, Dave Itzkoff, “Robin Williams, Oscar-Winning Comedian, Dies at 63 in Suspected Suicide”, in New York Times",
          "text": "In 2006, he checked himself into the Hazelden center in Springbrook, Ore., to be treated for an addiction to alcohol, having fallen off the wagon after some 20 years of sobriety.",
          "type": "quotation"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2018 September 8, Steven Hyden, “His Sh*t’s F***ed Up: The Complicated Legacy of Warren Zevon”, in The Ringer, retrieved 2018-09-08",
          "text": "After nearly 17 years of sobriety, Zevon fell off the wagon hard when he was diagnosed.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To cease or fail at a regimen of self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an old habit or addiction."
      ],
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          "habit",
          "habit"
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          "addiction"
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        "(idiomatic) To cease or fail at a regimen of self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an old habit or addiction."
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Michael Quinion",
        "New York Anti-Saloon League",
        "William Hamilton Anderson",
        "temperance movement in the United States"
      ]
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      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/44/En-au-fall_off_the_wagon.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Australia"
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      "text": "Audio (AU)"
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  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "relapse"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "falde af vandvognen"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "replonger"
    },
    {
      "code": "hu",
      "lang": "Hungarian",
      "note": "the latter three options are given for drinking, but can be replaced by other addictions",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "visszaesik/elcsábul, és újra iszik/inni kezd/italhoz nyúl"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "razvjazátʹ",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "развяза́ть"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "sorvátʹsja",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "сорва́ться"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "to cease a self-improvement or reform; to lapse back into an addiction",
      "word": "recaer"
    }
  ],
  "word": "fall off the wagon"
}