on the wagon Abstaining from alcoholic beverages; said of a teetotaler or nephalist. This expression is a truncated version of the earlier and more explicit on the water-wagon.

Antithetically, off the wagon implies the resumption of alcoholic indulgence after a period of abstinence.

teetotal To abstain totally from alcoholic beverages; as an adjective, advocating total abstinence from intoxicating drink. This word is formed by a reduplication of the initial sound of total. It was purportedly coined by Richard Turner (1790-1846) in a speech delivered in England in September, 1833, advocating total abstinence from liquor. Accounts differ as to whether teetotal was intentional as Turner claimed, or the result of a speech defect which caused Turner to stutter, “N-n-nothing but t-t-t-total abstinence will do.” At any rate, John Livesey, a member of the audience and founder of the Total Abstinence Society, credits the word to Turner in his Autobiography (1867), and Turner’s gravestone epitaph reads in part: “Richard Turner, author of the word Teetotal as applied to abstinence from all intoxicating liquors.” Furthermore, a full-page advertisement in the April, 1836, issue of Preston’s Temperance Advocate also credits “Dicky Turner”as the originator of teetotal.

Rev. Joel Jewell, secretary of a temperance society in Lansing, New York, claimed that members of his organization coined the word in 1827 when they handed out pledge cards upon which were printed “O.P.” (Old Pledge—partial abstinence) or “T.” (Total abstinence), encouraging people to sign the latter by crying out “T—total! T—total!”

Although both England and the United States claim credit for the word, it is possible that teetotal developed independently in the two countries. It has since enjoyed extensive and frequent use.

One who abstains from alcoholic consumption is often called a teetotaler.