Language musings of the day – roads and wagons
Rumour once had it that the phrases one more for the road and on the wagon both came from the long journey from prison to the hangman’s noose. It has often been claimed that one more for the road came from the habit of the local inns offering prisoners a final drink on their way to the gallows. Similarly, if the prisoner refused or were refused this final drink, they remained on the wagon. Yet this now appears to be bunkum (an old-fashioned word for nonsense, poppycock or hocus-pocus). It would appear that we were simply not that nice to the condemned, much preferring to jeer and leer than refresh.
One for the road seems to be just a well-used plea to keep your friends together for a little while longer – don’t go yet, have another one for the road! Here, ‘one’ refers to a (usually alcoholic) beverage and ‘for the road’ doesn’t necessarily infer that you’re travelling by car. Records indicate that the use of this expression dates back to the early 20th century.
On the wagon, meanwhile, has a more contested origin. Apart from the whole ‘off to get hanged’ explanation, another is that the wagon was a hay wagon driven around the mean streets of New York by Evangeline Booth (US Salvation Army National Commander) to pick up waifs and strays and take them back to the Army hostel. However, the phrase is mostly suggested to have derived from the temperance movement in 19th-century America – the wagon being a water wagon used to damp down dust roads – suggesting those taking the pledge would rather drink from this rather unsanitary vessel than take a mouthful of the demon drink.
That’s by no means the end to travel-related idioms:
- At a crossroads: Being at a point in your life when you need to make a very important decision. It’s similar to the metaphorical phrase a fork in the road, which depicts a moment of choosing between two different paths.
- The road less travelled: Making an unconventional choice or taking an approach that is less common.
- All roads lead to Rome: An expression that suggests various methods will ultimately lead to the same result. It’s an alternative to the more gruesome phrase There’s more than one way to skin a cat. Since it originates from medieval Latin, the translations into other languages are usually word for word: Alle Wege führen nach Rom (German); Tous les chemins mènent à Rome (French); Tutte le strade portano a Roma (Italian).
- Go down that road (or route): To decide to take a particular course of action. Often, it is said in the negative We don’t want to go down that road, suggesting it’s a last resort.
- Rocky road (or bumpy road): A challenging or unpredictable period, synonymous to going through a rough patch.
- Kick the can down the road: To put off making a difficult decision. In German, this is translated as das Problem auf die lange Bank schieben (shove the problem onto the long bench), an expression that originates from the days of medieval courts when an unhappy party should slide their court case’s papers to the back of the bench to defer the matter (storage units were yet to be introduced!).
- Hop on the bandwagon: To adopt a popular trend. In Spanish, this is translated as seguir al rebaño – to follow the herd, or as we’d say in English, to follow the crowd.
Get in the fast lane with First Edition Translations
First Edition Translations is a certified translation agency based in Cambridge, UK. Operating since 1981, we are a founding member of Institute of Translation and Interpreting (ITI) and part of the Association for Cultural Enterprises (ACE). We know a thing or two about language and specialise in translation, editing, proofreading, typesetting and transcription for a range of clients.
Our friendly team is here to help ensure your message doesn’t get lost in translation and we promise not to lead you down the garden path. Whether you need one-off help or ongoing support, simply reach out to our multilingual project managers at enquiries@firstedit.co.uk.