Idiom
fix someone's wagon
Meaning
To cause injury, distress, or inconvenience to someone, especially as punishment or as a comeuppance.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“If he keeps lying to me, I will fix his wagon.”
“I will fix your wagon if you steal my lunch again.”
“The manager decided to fix the dishonest employee's wagon by reporting his actions to the board.”
“When the neighbor kept parking in her driveway, she finally fixed his wagon by having the car towed away at his expense.”
“The store owner fixed the shoplifter's wagon by handing the security footage directly to the local police officers.”
“After discovering the betrayal, she plotted a clever scheme to fix his wagon and ensure he faced the full consequences of his deceit.”
Examples
simple
“If he keeps lying to me, I will fix his wagon.”
“I will fix your wagon if you steal my lunch again.”
contextual
“The manager decided to fix the dishonest employee's wagon by reporting his actions to the board.”
“When the neighbor kept parking in her driveway, she finally fixed his wagon by having the car towed away at his expense.”
“The store owner fixed the shoplifter's wagon by handing the security footage directly to the local police officers.”
complex
“After discovering the betrayal, she plotted a clever scheme to fix his wagon and ensure he faced the full consequences of his deceit.”
Origin
The idiom derives from an archaic sense of the word fix, which meant to fix an object in place or render it unable to move. This sense of the term survives in the modern word affix. The expression is rooted in the literal immobilisation of a wagon, the functional result being that the owner is unable to proceed with their intended journey.
Key words
Related idioms
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