Madhivanan  +  63013 Thu, 23 Dec 04 06:02 AM What does "Tea Tottaller" mean? Madhivanan Joined on Mon, Nov 29 2004 New Member 21 Madhivanan

	Mister Micawber  +  63020 Thu, 23 Dec 04 07:12 AM 'Teetotaler' is from the letter t (as in total) + total + -er. Teetotalism is the complete abstinence from alcoholic drinks. If your spelling is accurate, 'tea totaller' may be word-play on the original, and may be someone who drinks only tea. Mister Micawber Joined on Wed, Aug 4 2004 Yokohama Veteran Member 30,842 'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master-- that's all.' Spelling

	Feebs11  +  336443 Wed, 07 Mar 07 12:55 AM  Anonymous wrote: Actually, the term is 'tea totaller' and it means people who NEVER drink alcohol of any kind, beer, wine, anything with alcohol in it... therefore the word implies they only drank tea. ORIGIN emphatic extension of TOTAL, apparently first used by Richard Turner, a worker from Preston, in a speech (1833) urging total abstinence from all alcohol. teetotal "pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink," 1834, possibly formed from total with a reduplication of the initial T- for emphasis (T-totally "totally," not in an abstinence sense, is recorded in Kentucky dialect from 1832 and is possibly older in Irish-Eng.). The use in temperance jargon was first noted Sept. 1833 in a speech advocating total abstinence (from beer as well as wine and liquor) by Richard "Dicky" Turner, a working-man from Preston, England. Also said to have been introduced in 1827 in a New York temperance society which recorded a T after the signature of those who had pledged total abstinence, but contemporary evidence for this is wanting, and Webster (1847) calls teetotaler "a cant word formed in England." Feebs11 Joined on Thu, Nov 23 2006 UK Veteran Member 5,015 Dialects, Images

	Grammar Geek  +  494352 Sat, 29 Mar 08 04:32 PM Anonymous “ One whom does not consume alcoholic beverages. ” I think we can close this thread now. There have certainly been enough answers given over the years. Grammar Geek Joined on Tue, Jan 10 2006 Veteran Member 19,683 Barbara, who answers in American English. My housekeeping skills attest to the truth of the second law of thermodynamics: Left to themselves, things get more and more random!