teetotal Wiktionary, the free dictionary

It became popular as part of the temperance movement in the early 19th century in Great Britain and North America. Unlike temperance advocates, who promoted moderation in alcohol consumption or abstention solely from hard liquor (distilled spirits), people who practice teetotalism, known as teetotalers, abstain from all alcohol, including beer and wine. From the early days of the mass temperance movement, total abstinence from alcohol was promoted by some advocates, such as Presbyterian clergyman Lyman Beecher, who published Six Sermons on the Nature, Occasions, Signs, Evils, and Remedy of Intemperance in 1827.

• The Pioneers wore a religious emblem to signify their abstinence and recited a prayer twice daily that asked for “the conversion of excessive drinkers.” Whereas Mathew’s group eventually dwindled out, the Pioneers remain active in Ireland and North America, although with much diminished numbers.
• Teetotalers in the 19th century who belonged to temperance societies typically signed a pledge promising to abstain from alcohol.
• We sent over the old ardent spirit pledge; but after all, it did not touch the English beer, and good old brown stout, wine, nor the delicate cordials for the ladies.
• Women formed their own Washingtonian chapters, Martha Washington societies, and called themselves “Marthas.” By the late 1840s, most Washingtonian chapters had stopped meeting owing to declining membership.
• 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.
• They recruited other people in their community, even non-alcoholics, and held regular meetings in which they shared their experiences with drinking and sobriety.
• While you’re at it, raise another glass in honor of Richard Turner, whose stutter led to the creation of a term that will forever define those who choose to abstain from the devil’s nectar.

From our Multilingual Translation Dictionary

By 1836, when the American national temperance convention formally endorsed total abstinence, many temperance societies had switched from promoting moderation to advocating for abstinence. It was also estimated that about a quarter of a million individuals were practicing total abstinence. The two classes of signers were distinguished as those who took the “old pledge,” and had “O.P.” placed before their names, and those who took the “new” or “total pledge” (“T.”); the frequent explanation given of these letters made “T.―total” familiar. (b) Richard Turner, an artisan of Preston, in Lancashire, England, is said, in advocating the principle of temperance, about 1833, to have maintained that “nothing but te-te-total will do”; while a variation of this account makes the artisan a stutterer. Both accounts appear to be correct, and the word may have originated independently in the two countries. Once upon a time, in 1833, a man named Richard Turner stood up in a meeting of the Preston Temperance Society in Lancashire, England.

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Although the temperance movement died out in the United States define teetotal 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. The basis of AA was the Twelve Steps program, which outlines the group’s principles and methods for recovery.

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The society was dedicated to promoting a life of sobriety, but Turner believed they didn’t go far enough. Whereas many temperance groups lobbied for prohibition, the Washington Temperance Society, whose members were known as the Washingtonians, emphasized individual reform over societal reform. The fellowship group for reformed alcoholics was founded in 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, by six men seeking to help one another and others to maintain their sobriety. They recruited other people in their community, even non-alcoholics, and held regular meetings in which they shared their experiences with drinking and sobriety. Over time, the Washingtonians attracted as many as 600,000 members, with chapters throughout the United States.

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Some societies also issued a pledge card that featured the member’s name, the date of the pledge, and other details, such as the name and logo of the temperance society or illustrations depicting the miseries of drinking compared with the happiness of sobriety. 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. Members of temperance organizations sang songs, organized marches to shut down saloons or pass prohibition laws, circulated pamphlets about the cause, and gave speeches on the moral problems caused by drinking. Teetotalism was embraced by some religious groups and moral reformers as the answer to the problems of poverty, unemployment or work absenteeism, declining church attendance, crime, and domestic violence. It was encouraged among the working class, whereas moderation was more readily accepted among the upper classes, who could afford wine.

It’s a lifestyle choice that requires an iron will, a love for clear-headed mornings, and the ability to withstand endless mockery from friends who don’t understand the appeal of a party without a single drop of booze. In Dublin, the Pioneer Total Abstinence Association of the Sacred Heart (Pioneers) was founded in 1898 by another priest, James Cullen. The Pioneers wore a religious emblem to signify their abstinence and recited a prayer twice daily that asked for “the conversion of excessive drinkers.” Whereas Mathew’s group eventually dwindled out, the Pioneers remain active in Ireland and North America, although with much diminished numbers.

• It is therefore likely that Richard Turner only used a word already colloquially current in the general sense of absolute, complete.
• The society was dedicated to promoting a life of sobriety, but Turner believed they didn’t go far enough.
• Once upon a time, in 1833, a man named Richard Turner stood up in a meeting of the Preston Temperance Society in Lancashire, England.
• Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), founded in 1935 in Akron, Ohio, developed as a fellowship group for alcoholics seeking recovery through total abstinence.
• The fellowship group for reformed alcoholics was founded in 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, by six men seeking to help one another and others to maintain their sobriety.

word histories

When at drinking establishments, teetotallers tend to consume non-alcoholic beverages such as water, juice, tea, coffee, non-alcoholic soft drinks, virgin drinks, mocktails, and alcohol-free beer. Turner, who was apparently known for his stutter, proclaimed, “I’ll be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever.” In this exhilarating story, Turner was really just repeating the ‘t’ in “total,” but the term “teetotal” stuck, forever branding those who abstain from alcohol with a reminder of this man’s verbal quirk. We sent over the old ardent spirit pledge; but after all, it did not touch the English beer, and good old brown stout, wine, nor the delicate cordials for the ladies. All these were untouched, and the graves of the drunkards were filling up as fast as ever; and those they had drawn a little away from the gin palaces, they soon found were drunkards still—for such found they could keep the old pledge, and go to bed drunk every night. So they adopted what they called the ‘te-total’ pledge—(though I don’t like the name.) They sent that back again to us; and it was really gratifying to them to find that there was a Total Abstinence Society in America.

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Notably, they welcomed many groups that other temperance societies excluded, including Roman Catholics and Black Americans. Women formed their own Washingtonian chapters, Martha Washington societies, and called themselves “Marthas.” By the late 1840s, most Washingtonian chapters had stopped meeting owing to declining membership. Teetotalers in the 19th century who belonged to temperance societies typically signed a pledge promising to abstain from alcohol.