wagon (redirected from waggons)

*off the wagon 

1. Fig. drinking liquor after a period of abstinence. (*Typically: be ~; fall ~; get ~.) Poor John fell off the wagon again. Drunk as a skunk. He was off the wagon for a year the last time before he sobered up.

2. Fig. back on drugs after a period of abstinence. (*Typically: be ~; fall ~; get ~.) Wilbur is off the wagon and shooting up again. He can't be off the wagon, because he has never stopped using, even for a day.

fix someone's wagon

Fig. to punish someone; to get even with someone; to plot against someone. If you ever do that again, I'll fix your wagon! Tommy! You clean up your room this instant, or I'll fix your wagon! He reported me to the boss, but I fixed his wagon. I knocked his lunch on the floor.

See also: fix

Hitch your wagon to a star.

Prov. Always aspire to do great things.; Do not set pessimistic goals. (From Ralph Waldo Emerson's essay, "Civilization.") The speaker who delivered the high school commencement address challenged the graduating students to hitch their wagons to a star. Bob: What do you want to be when you grow up? Child: I used to want to be a great actor, but my dad told me hardly anybody gets to be an actor, so now I have to pick something else. Bob: Nonsense. If you want to be an actor, then do your best to be an actor. Hitch your wagon to a star!

See also: hitch, star

on the wagon

Fig. not drinking alcohol. No, I don't care for a cocktail. I'm on the wagon. Bob's old drinking buddies complained that he was no fun when he went on the wagon.

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be on the wagon

someone who is on the wagon has decided not to drink any alcohol for a period of time He'd been an alcoholic once, but when I met him he'd been on the wagon for about five years.

See fall off the wagon, hitch wagon to

fall off the wagon

to start drinking alcohol again, especially too much alcohol, after a period when you have not drunk any Six months later he fell off the wagon in spectacular fashion with a three-day drinking spree.

See also: fall

hitch your wagon to somebody/something   also hitch your wagon to a star

to try to become successful by becoming involved with someone or something that is already successful or has a good chance of becoming successful He wisely decided to hitch his wagon to the environmentalist movement, which was then gaining support throughout the country. She hitched her wagon to a rising young star on the music scene.

See also: hitch

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circle the wagons

to stop communicating with people not in your group to avoid their ideas or beliefs Americans are feeling it is an especially good time to spend time with family, to circle the wagons.

Etymology: based on the custom of bringing wagons (vehicles pulled by horses) into a circle when they are being attacked

See also: circle

off the wagon

drinking alcohol again, after having stopped If she falls off the wagon again, she'll just have to pick herself up and try to stop drinking.

Usage notes: usually said about someone who has an alcohol problem

Opposite of: on the wagon

on the wagon

not drinking any alcohol, after a period of drinking regularly He's been on the wagon for ten years now.

Usage notes: usually said about someone who has an alcohol problem

Opposite of: off the wagon