#teetotalism

"Among the virtuous Non-Drinkers was an alarming Percentage of the Kind that no one would care to have around the House on a Rainy Sunday."

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I’m not exactly a teetotaler, but I don’t drink much alcohol. Frankly, I prefer a nice chocolate milkshake to an ice cold beer, and wine, to quote the character Sheldon Cooper from “The Big Bang Theory,” is “grape juice that burns.”

Did I forget to mention that the Word of the Day is “teetotal?”

“Teetotal” or “teetotalism” refers to a pledge of complete abstinence from intoxicating alcoholic beverages. The first thing you need to know about the word is it’s not “TEAtotal.” It has nothing to do with tea (unless perhaps you’re talking about Long Island Iced Tea, a potent mixed drink which, in my youth, kicked my arse more than once.)

It’s generally (but not universally) agreed that the first known use of the word was by temperance advocate Dicky Turner in Preston, England in a speech in 1833. Wikipedia hints that Turner had a stutter, and was actually urging “t-t-t-total abstinence” from liquor, but there’s no convincing proof of that (Not even 80 proof, like a good strong vodka or gin. See what I did there?)

Let’s break it down. The “total” part means just what it says on the box. The avoidance of alcohol is complete and total. The “tee” part is both a reduplication (like “itty-bitty,” “easy-peasy,” “okey-dokey” and the like) and an intensifier. English has lots of intensifying prefixes, such as the “dis-“ in “disgruntled” (completely, entirely grumbling and grunting like a pig.) There’s also “re-“ like the one in “resplendent” (completely shining and glittering), and the “de-“ in such words as “declare” (make thoroughly and completely clear) and “depraved” (thoroughly, um, “praved,” from the Latin “pravus,” meaning perverse or crooked.)

So the “tee” in “teetotal” indicates a complete and utter totality. No alcohol. Not one drop.

AUU Omake #1 : Teetotal

and there’s a section where it discusses research performed on people who practice it, and there have been studies where drinking habits of people on the asexuality spectrum are compared to those who are allosexual/not asexual, and its been found that asexual people drink significantly less than people who aren’ t asexual

the cup of fury (1956, cover illustration by a.l. edebohls)