Why do they call it," falling off the wagon"?
As if there is this pretty wagon that fly's and takes you away from this un-sobering reality. There isn't. Just the phrase makes me crazy! How do you "get" on the wagon in the first place? Do you have to try to jump onto it as it speeds away to this,"better place."
For some reason, I cant seem to find the stop, and I have looked for it everywhere. If someone knows how to catch this damn thing...please let me know.
In the ancient days they used to have water-wagons that would spray the dirt roads to keep the dust minimal in the towns. They would only let the non-drinkers operate them to prevent crashes and people being run over! When someone who had this job started drinking again, they were said to have "fallen off the water-wagon", or "wagon".
So there's your lesson in linguistic origins for today...