Sober living

Teetotalism Meaning & History

  • January 16, 2024

what is a teetotaler

I used to work with number crunchers who happened to be extremely bland. Their idea of a good time was to go out to go to a club and finish a few bottles of vodka while barely talking to each other. “We agree to abstain from all liquors of an intoxicating quality whether ale, porter, wine or ardent spirits, except as medicine.” Hi Margie, there are lots of new alcohol-free beverages available these days! I sometimes bring my own because I get them online and they’re not yet in bars or restaurants. Dram Apothecary CBD sparkling water (their Beauty Bubbles are great) and Curious Elixirs (I get them shipped monthly) are great ones to start out with.

It was encouraged among the working class, whereas moderation was more readily accepted among the upper classes, who could afford wine. To be clear, I don’t make any excuses for why I don’t drink – unless I’m temporarily trapped with a belligerent drunk, which has happened once in three years. I simply say that I used to drink too much, so I quit, and now my life is much more enjoyable. I make clear that this was my personal decision and I don’t judge anyone who drinks.

what is a teetotaler

New Articles

  1. Read on if you want to know what it takes to navigate modern society without drinking AND without sacrificing your fun, independence, and dignity.
  2. I have mixed views on prescription drugs, which I think are overused but useful in specific circumstances.
  3. Turner may have used the word teetotal often, helping it to become more widespread, or it may have already been in use by the temperance movement, and Turner helped to cement it.
  4. Methodists in English and American history often taught abstinence but rarely do that currently.
  5. Assembly of God, Baha’i, Christian Science, Islam, Jainism, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS. also known as the Mormon Church), Seventh-day Adventist Church, the Church of Christ, Sikhism, Salvation Army.
  6. Below is a list of mood-enhancing substances that are safer than alcohol.

Whether this is true, or whether the word came about independently at around the same time in Both England and U.S., the evidence cannot show. In other words, temperance began as a movement calling for abstinence from hard liquors like whiskey, rum, gin, etc. Wine, beer, and cider were often accepted and even recommended as a good substitute for hard spirits. At the beginning of the temperance movement, most temperance societies didn’t see anything wrong with wine, beer, or cider. Over time, I realized that the desire to drink, aside from the physical compulsion of alcoholics, is largely a social construct. We are not hardwired to want to drink, but we are hardwired to want to enjoy the company of other people.

My alcohol cravings went away because I tackled my nutrition proactively. Eventually, my fitness level morphed into an unintended conversation piece when I met up with old friends. Not only do I not feel cravings anymore, but I don’t want to contaminate my hard-won progress. The bad news is that it’s hard to have fun with a rude date or a group of boring people.

Why is ‘-ed’ sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

I use meditation, breathing techniques, and exercise to alter my state of mind almost every day. There are also a number of supplements, herbs, and drugs that are much safer than alcohol. I remember not knowing whether it was possible for me to have fun without drinking. Instead, it seems more likely that it was an old term of a type known as a “republicate.” Republication means to repeat sounds in a word, or similar sounds, Facts about alcohol and heart health often as a means to emphasize them. Turner may have used the word teetotal often, helping it to become more widespread, or it may have already been in use by the temperance movement, and Turner helped to cement it. This is a list of notable figures who practiced teetotalism and were public advocates for temperance, teetotalism, or both.

You can navigate the social dilemmas posed by not drinking in a culture obsessed with alcohol. Most importantly, you may just discover some new ways to enhance your personality and your health. With that said, I’ve been surprised at how many people actually prefer not to drink on dates. It seems like every other girl out there has an alcoholic ex-boyfriend who she’s relieved to be rid of. Alcohol is available in bars and clubs in the United Arab Emirates, the federation of seven sheikhdoms that includes Dubai, but the Muslim country has a large population of teetotalers. Although “to teetotal” (t total, t-total) simply means “to never drink,” it meant something more specific when it first came to be used.

You could get drunk on any of it, and so you have to abstain from all of it. If such a term had been coined by one man during one speech, then we could not expect to see it appearing much in print in the years directly following its coinage. There are several common origin stories, which I will report here along with some speculation as to the credibility to each one.

Alternatives To Alcohol

I’ve seen wit, charm, and humor on the part of one individual transform a dead dinner into raucous cascades of laughter. Read on if you want to know what it takes to navigate modern society without drinking AND without sacrificing your fun, independence, and dignity. Not only did I refuse to sacrifice my social life, but I’ve had more fun these past three years than I ever did as a drinker. Unlike many sober people, who see alcohol as a mischievous devil permanently perched on their shoulders, I see alcohol as a moot substance. I drank way too much for a decade before quitting about three years ago.

Welcome to my free guide for new or experienced teetotalers and having fun without alcohol. The benefits of becoming a non-drinker are too numerous to list, and life without alcohol is a matter of mindset. I’ll do my best to convey how much fun the alcohol-free lifestyle can be. If you’ve landed here because you want to quit drinking alcohol and you’re wary of being ostracized, you’re in the right place. But that still doesn’t mean that the term was not used in England and that it was not already a known word.

Word History

When at drinking establishments, teetotallers either abstain from drinking totally or consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, non-alcoholic soft drinks, virgin drinks, mocktails, and alcohol-free beer. A person who abstains from alcohol might choose tea as his or her alternative beverage, but the word teetotaler has nothing to do with tea. More likely, the “tee” that begins the word teetotal is a reduplication of the letter “t” that begins total, emphasizing that one has pledged total abstinence. Teetotal and teetotaler first appeared with their current meanings in 1834, eight years after the formation of the American Temperance Society. Some studies have found that moderate drinkers outlive teetotalers, but these did not account for the fact that many heavy drinkers quit drinking too late and then die early.

It is sometimes claimed that he put the “tee” at the beginning for the general reason described above, as emphasis. Still another claim is that Turner didn’t invent the word, but that it was an archaic word from the Lancashire dialect. Studies in the late 2010s indicated a decline in youth drinking in Western countries, with more than one-fourth of English youth in their mid-teens to mid-20s and nearly three-tenths of college-age Americans claiming total abstinence. Informal annual events such as “Dry January” or “Sober October” also encourage participants to abstain from alcohol and promote their abstinence on social media. Although the temperance movement died out in the United States in the early 20th century with the failure of Prohibition, alcohol abstinence was the foundation for a new movement focused on recovery from addiction. Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, developed as a fellowship group for alcoholics seeking recovery through total abstinence.