teetotalism

According to the Online Etymology Dictionary, the tee- in teetotal is the letter T, so it is actually t-total, though it was never spelled that way.{{cite web|url=http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=t&p=5|title=Online Etymology Dictionary – T, page 5|access-date=2007-04-30}} The word is first recorded in 1832 in a general sense in an American source, and in 1833 in England in the context of abstinence. Since at first it was used in other contexts as an emphasised form of total, the tee- is presumably a reduplication of the first letter of total, much as contemporary idiom might say "total with a capital T".{{Cite news|last1=Kruth|first1=Rebecca|last2=Curzan|first2=Anne|date=22 September 2019|title=TWTS: Why "teetotaler" has nothing to do with tea|url=https://www.michiganradio.org/post/twts-why-teetotaler-has-nothing-do-tea|access-date=2021-05-21|work=Michigan Radio|language=en}}

The teetotalism movement first started in Preston, England, in the early 19th century.Road to Zion – British Isles, BYU-TV; {{cite web |url=http://byutv.org/watch/801-207 |title=BYUtv - Road to Zion: British Isles: Part One |access-date=2011-02-15 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110211095420/http://www.byutv.org/watch/801-207/ |archive-date=2011-02-11 }} The Preston Temperance Society was founded in 1833 by Joseph Livesey, who was to become a leader of the temperance movement and the author of The Pledge: "We agree to abstain from all liquors of an intoxicating quality whether ale, porter, wine, or ardent spirits, except as medicine."{{cite book|last1=Gately|first1=Iain|title=Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol|date=May 2009|publisher=Gotham Books|location=New York|isbn=978-1-592-40464-3|page=248}} Today, a number of temperance organisations exist that promote teetotalism as a virtue.{{cite book |last1=Cox |first1=David J. |last2=Stevenson |first2=Kim |last3=Harris |first3=Candida |last4=Rowbotham |first4=Judith |title=Public Indecency in England 1857–1960: 'A Serious and Growing Evil' |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-317-57383-8 |page=164 |language=en|date=12 June 2015}}

Richard Turner, a member of the Preston Temperance Society, is credited with using the existing slang word, "teetotally", for abstinence from all intoxicating liquors.{{r|MR 2019-09-22}} One anecdote describes a meeting of the society in 1833, at which Turner in giving a speech said, "I'll be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever."{{cite web|last=Quinion|first=Michael|title=Teetotal|url=http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tee1.htm|website=Worldwidewords.org|access-date=22 April 2012}} Walter William Skeat noted that the Turner anecdote had been recorded by temperance advocate Joseph Livesey, and posited that the term may have been inspired by the teetotum;[https://archive.org/details/anetymologicald01skeagoog/page/n861 An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language], by Walter William Skeat; published by Clarendon Press, 1893 however, James B. Greenough stated that "nobody ever thought teetotum and teetotaler were etymologically connected."[https://arrow.latrobe.edu.au/store/3/4/5/9/3/public/B13517843.pdf Words and Their Ways], by James B. Greenough; published 1902

A variation on the above account is found on the pages of The Charleston Observer:

{{cquote|Teetotalers.—The origin of this convenient word, (as convenient almost, although not so general in its application as loafer,) is, we imagine, known but to few who use it. It originated, as we learn from the Landmark, with a man named Turner, a member of the Preston Temperance Society, who, having an impediment of speech, in addressing a meeting remarked, that partial abstinence from intoxicating liquors would not do; they must insist upon tee-tee-(stammering) tee total abstinence. Hence total abstainers have been called teetotalers.The Charleston Observer vol. 10, no. 44 (29 October 1836): 174, columns 4–5.|source=}}

According to historian Daniel Walker Howe (What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848, 2007) the term was derived from the practice of American preacher and temperance advocate Lyman Beecher. He would take names at his meetings of people who pledged alcoholic temperance and noted those who pledged total abstinence with a T. Such persons became known as Teetotallers.

{{Main|Non-alcoholic drink}}

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.

Most teetotaller organisations also demand from their members that they do not promote or produce alcoholic intoxicants.{{cite web |last1=Hanson |first1=David J. |title=Anti-Alcohol Industry 101: Overview of the Neo-Temperance Movement |url=https://www.alcoholproblemsandsolutions.org/anti-alcohol-industry-101-overview-of-the-neo-temperance-movement/ |website=Alcohol Problems and Solutions |date=14 August 2019 |access-date=12 May 2021}}{{cite journal |last1=Lawson |first1=Wilfrid |title=Prohibition in England |journal=The North American Review |date=August 1893 |volume=157 |issue=441 |page=152 |jstor=25103180 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/25103180 |access-date=12 May 2021}}

{{further|Long-term effects of alcohol}}

File:Zero alcool pendant la grossesse.svg promoting zero alcohol during pregnancy]]

Some common reasons for choosing teetotalism are psychological, religious, health,{{cite web|url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/uk/body/health/news/a40745/health-benefits-give-up-drinking-alcohol/|title=6 great things that happen to your body when you give up drinking|website=Cosmopolitan.com|date=20 January 2016}} medical, philosophical, social, political, past alcoholism, or simply preference.

{{main|Religion and alcohol}}

File:William Meacham Murrell, Map on Temperance, 1846 Cornell CUL PJM 1052 01.jpg

Some Christians choose to practice teetotalism throughout the Lent season, giving up alcoholic beverages as their Lenten sacrifice.{{cite web |title=Drink less this Lent |url=https://www.pioneerassociation.ie/media-centre/43-drink-less-this-lent |publisher=Pioneer Total Abstinence Association |access-date=17 March 2019 |language=en |date=22 February 2009 |archive-date=16 November 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171116094525/http://pioneerassociation.ie/media-centre/43-drink-less-this-lent |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |last1=Gilbert |first1=Kathy L. |title=Could you go alcohol-free for Lent? |url=https://www.umnews.org/en/news/could-you-go-alcohol-free-for-lent |publisher=United Methodist News Service |access-date=17 March 2019 |language=en |date=21 February 2012}}

A number of Christian denominations forbid the consumption of alcohol, or recommend the non-consumption thereof, including certain Anabaptist denominations such as the Mennonites (both Old Order Mennonites and Conservative Mennonites), Church of the Brethren, Beachy Amish and New Order Amish. Many Christian groups, such as Methodists (especially those aligned with the Holiness movement) and Quakers (particularly the Conservative Friends and Holiness Friends), are often associated with teetotalism due to their traditionally strong support for temperance movements, as well as prohibition. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Seventh-day Adventists, and Holiness Pentecostals also preach abstinence from alcohol and other drugs.

Conservative Anabaptist denominations of Christianity proscribe the use of alcohol and other drugs.{{cite book |title=Dunkard Brethren Church Polity |date=1 November 2021 |publisher=Dunkard Brethren Church |pages=8–9}}{{cite book |title=Statement of Faith and Practice |date=2012 |publisher=Salem Amish Mennonite Church |location=Bakersville |page=8 |language=English}} The following teaching of the Dunkard Brethren Church is reflective of Conservative Anabaptism:

{{blockquote|Members of the Dunkard Brethren Church shall abstain from the use of intoxicating or addictive substances, such as narcotics, nicotine, marijuana, or alcoholic beverages (except as directed by a physician). Using, raising, manufacturing, buying or selling them by Christians is inconsistent with the Christian lifestyle and testimony. Members of the Dunkard Brethren Church who do so should be counseled in love and forbearance. If they manifest an unwilling or arbitrary spirit, they subject themselves to the discipline of the church, even to expulsion in extreme cases. We implore members to accept the advice and counsel of the church and abstain from all of the above. Since members are to be examples to the world (Romans 14:20–21) indulgence in any of these activities disqualifies then for Church or Sunday School work or as delegates to District or General Conference.}}

The temperance movement gained early support from Methodists. The British Methodist Church historically promoted teetotalism; since the 1970s, it has encouraged members to consider abstinence from alcohol, but does allow responsible drinking.{{cite web |title=Temperance |url=https://www.methodistheritage.org.uk/methodist-history/social-justice/temperance/ |website=Methodist Heritage |publisher=Methodist Church in Britain |access-date=18 January 2025 |language=en}} The Church of the Nazarene and Wesleyan Methodist Church, both denominations in the Wesleyan tradition, teach abstinence.{{cite book | last=Eastlack | first=Anita | publisher=Wesleyan Publishing House | title=The discipline of the Wesleyan Church 2016. | publication-place=Indianapolis, Indiana | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-63257-198-4 | oclc=1080251593|url=https://wesleyan.ca/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/2016%20Discipline%20of%20The%20Wesleyan%20Church%20%281%29.pdf}}{{cite web|title=2017-2021 Manual|url=http://www.nazarene.org/sites/default/files/docs/GenSec/Manual/2017%20-2021%20Manual|publisher=Church of the Nazarene|access-date=27 April 2018|archive-date=31 August 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180831220223/http://www.nazarene.org/sites/default/files/docs/GenSec/Manual/2017%20-2021%20Manual|url-status=dead}} Members of denominations in the conservative holiness movement, such as the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection, are required to practice teetotalism.{{cite book|title=The Discipline of the Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection (Original Allegheny Conference)|year=2014|publisher=Allegheny Wesleyan Methodist Connection|location=Salem|language=en|page=37}} The Book of Discipline of the Immanuel Missionary Church, a conservative Methodist denomination, states:

{{blockquote|Temperance is the moderate use of that which is beneficial, and a total abstinence from that which is harmful. Therefore no member shall be permitted to use or sell intoxicating liquors, tobacco, or harmful drugs, or to be guilty of things which are only for the gratification of the depraved appetite, and are unbecoming and inconsistent with our Christian profession (I Cor. 10:31). —General Standards, Immanuel Missionary Church{{cite book |title=Discipline of the Immanuel Missionary Church |date=1986 |publisher=Immanuel Missionary Church |location=Shoals, Indiana |page=17 |language=English}}}}

Uniformed members of the Salvation Army ("soldiers" and "officers") make a promise on joining the movement to observe lifelong abstinence from alcohol. This dates back to the early years of the organisation, and the missionary work among alcoholics.{{cite web |title=Positional Statement: Alcohol in Society |url=https://salvationarmy.org/ihq/ipsalcoholinsociety |website=salvationarmy.org |publisher=The Salvation Army International |access-date=17 January 2025 |language=en |date=2015}}

With respect to Restorationist Christianity, members of certain groups within the Christian Science movement abstain from the consumption of alcohol.{{citation needed|date=May 2024}}

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rejects alcohol based upon the Word of Wisdom.{{Cite web |title=Why Mormons Don't Drink Alcohol, Tea, and Coffee? |url=https://pacific.churchofjesuschrist.org/why-mormons-dont-drink-alcohol-tea-and-coffee |access-date=2024-11-19 |website=pacific.churchofjesuschrist.org}}

Eastern Orthodox Church, the Roman Catholic Church, the Lutheran Churches, Oriental Orthodox Churches, and the Anglican Communion all require wine in their central religious rite of the Eucharist (Holy Communion). In contrast, churches in the Methodist tradition (which traditionally upholds teetotalism) require that "pure, unfermented juice of the grape" be used in the sacrament of Holy Communion.{{cite book |last1=Dunkle |first1=William Frederick |last2=Quillian |first2=Joseph D. |title=Companion to The Book of Worship |date=1970 |publisher=Abingdon Press |isbn=978-0-687-09258-1 |page=61 |language=English |quote=The pure, unfermented juice of the grape shall be used. The "fair white linen cloth" is merely a table covering that is appropriate for this central sacrament of the church.}}

In the Gospel of Luke (1:13–15), the angel that announces the birth of John the Baptist foretells that "he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb". A free translation of the New Testament, the Purified Translation of the Bible (2000), translates in a way that promotes teetotalism. However, the term 'wine' (and similar terms) being consumed by God's people occurs over two hundred times in both the Old and New Testament.{{cite web|last=Beavers|first=Keith|title=What Wine Would Jesus Drink?|website=VinePair|date=n.d.|url=https://vinepair.com/wine-geekly/what-wine-would-jesus-drink/#:~:text=It's%20hard%20to%20ignore%20the,times%20in%20the%20Old%20Testament.}|access-date=12 January 2024}}

Jainism forbids the consumption of alcohol, in addition to trade in alcohol.{{cite book |title=Jain Journal, Volume 15 |date=1981 |publisher=Jain Bhawan |page=32 |language=en}}{{cite book |last1=Sharma |first1=Arvind |title=The World's Religions: A Contemporary Reader |date=1 October 2010 |publisher=Fortress Press |isbn=978-0-8006-9746-4 |page=38 |language=en}}

In Hinduism, the consumption of alcohol and other intoxicants, called surāpāna, is considered the second mahāpātaka, or great sin.{{Cite book |last=Klostermaier |first=Klaus K. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=E_6-JbUiHB4C&dq=alcohol+mahapataka&pg=PA142 |title=A Survey of Hinduism: Third Edition |date=2007-07-05 |publisher=SUNY Press |isbn=978-0-7914-7082-4 |pages=142 |language=en}} Hindus are prohibited from drinking alcohol "as it has a direct impact on the nervous system, leading to actions that a sound person normally would not."{{cite web |last1=Agarwal |first1=Anav |title=Lord Shiva, Hinduism & Substance Abuse |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/readersblog/lawhumanrightsdevelopment/lord-shiva-hinduism-substance-abuse-50599/ |work=The Times of India |access-date=3 February 2024 |language=English |date=17 February 2023}}

Similarly, one of the five precepts of Buddhism is abstaining from intoxicating substances that disturb the peace and self-control of the mind, but it is formulated as a training rule to be assumed voluntarily by laypeople rather than as a commandment.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} Buddhist monks and nuns who hold traditional vows are forbidden from consuming alcohol.{{citation needed|date=February 2024}}

In contemporary Islam, the concept of "khamr" (Arabic: خمر), which refers to a category of intoxicating substances that are forbidden, is now generally understood as encompassing all forms of alcohol. Muslim countries have low rates of alcohol consumption, with many enforcing a policy of prohibition. Additionally, the majority of Muslims do not drink and believe consuming alcohol is forbidden (haram).{{cite journal | title=Alcohol and Islam: An Overview | journal=Contemporary Drug Problems | date=1999-06-01 | doi=10.1177/009145090603300401 | url=https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2007-12150-001 | access-date=2020-11-23 | last1=Michalak | first1=Laurence | last2=Trocki | first2=Karen | volume=33 | issue=4 | pages=523–562 | url-access=subscription }}{{cite web | url=https://www.moroccoworldnews.com/2014/12/147921/nothing-in-the-quran-says-alcohol-is-haram-saudi-author | title=Nothing in the Quran Says Alcohol "is Haram": Saudi Author | date=3 December 2012 }}

Ibn Majah and al-Tirmidhi narrated an authentic Hadith that if a Muslim drinks alcohol and does not repent, he would enter Hell after death and be "made to drink from the pus of the people of Jahannum."{{cite web |last1=Desai|first1=Mufti Siraj |title=Punishment for Drinking Alcohol|url=https://islamqa.org/hanafi/askmufti/81676/punishment-for-drinking-alcohol/|website=IslamQA|date=9 May 2015 }} Muslims believe that Allah will not accept the prayers of a repentant individual until forty days after the consumption of an alcoholic drink.{{cite web |last1=Bentley |first1=David|title=Ramadan 40-day rule and how it affects fasting and prayers in Islamic holy month|url=https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/whats-on/whats-on-news/ramadan-40-day-rule-warning-28538498|website=Birmingham Mail |language=en |date=30 January 2024}}

Dominic Conroy and Richard de Visser published research in Psychology and Health that studied strategies used by college students who would like to resist peer pressure to drink alcohol in social settings. The research hinted that students are less likely to give in to peer pressure if they have strong friendships and make a decision not to drink before social interactions.{{cite journal | last1 = Conroy | first1 = Dominic | last2 = de Visser | first2 = Richard | journal = Psychology and Health | volume = 29 | issue = 5 | pages = 536–551

| issn = 0887-0446 | doi = 10.1080/08870446.2013.866673 | pmid = 24245802 | title = Being a non-drinking student: An interpretative phenomenological analysis | url = http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/55352/| year = 2014 | s2cid = 7115520 }}

A 2015 study by the Office for National Statistics showed that young Britons were more likely to be teetotallers than their parents.{{cite news|last1=Neville|first1=Sarah|title=Young Britons turning teetotal in growing numbers, survey says|url=https://www.ft.com/content/2804037a-b38a-11e4-9449-00144feab7de|access-date=16 September 2016|work=Financial Times|date=13 February 2015}}

According to Global Status Report on Alcohol and Health, published by WHO in 2011, close to half of the world's adult population (45 percent) are lifetime abstainers. The Eastern Mediterranean Region, consisting of the Muslim countries in the Middle East and North Africa, is by far the lowest alcohol-consuming region in the world, both in terms of total adult per-capita consumption and prevalence of non-drinkers, i.e., 87.8 percent lifetime abstainers.{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/publications-detail-redirect/9789241565639|title=Global status report on alcohol and health 2018|website=Who.int}}

Teetotalism has become increasingly common amongst younger generations, particularly millennials and Gen Zers. A study published in April 2023 by the International Wine and Spirits Record (IWSR) revealed that millennials were key drivers of no-alcohol growth in the United States, with 45% of no-alcohol beer consumers in the US being millennials. By April 2024, that figure had climbed to 61%. The reasons given were primarily attributed to lifestyle and functionality.{{Cite web |first= |date=August 29, 2024 |title=Millennials drive no-alcohol gains in the US |url=https://www.theiwsr.com/insight/millennials-drive-no-alcohol-gains-in-the-us/#:~:text=In%20April%202023%2C%2045%25%20of,%2Dalcohol%20wine%20(59%25). |website=The IWSR}}

A similar study published by the National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) in 2022 revealed that millennials and Gen Zers were more likely to embrace sobriety than drinking culture with a survey indicating that 57% of these individuals would rather go to the gym for an hour than go out to a bar, and 69% finding heavy drinking culture boring. The common reasons given for Gen Zers were maintaining control over their lives, prioritizing productivity, and regulating their physical and mental health.{{Cite web |date=March 17, 2022 |title=National Public Health Information Coalition (NPHIC) - Millennials and Gen Zers Embrace "Life Can Take You Higher than Alcohol" |url=https://www.nphic.org/blog/738-millennials-and-gen-zers-embrace-life-can-take-you-higher-than-alcohol |access-date=2025-04-04 |website=www.nphic.org}}

{{Dynamic list}}

This is a list of notable figures who practiced teetotalism and were public advocates for temperance, teetotalism, or both. To be included in this list, individuals must be well known for their abstention from alcohol, their advocacy efforts, or both.

Individuals whose abstention from alcohol is not a defining characteristic or feature of their notability are intentionally excluded.

• Donald Trump, 45th and 47th president of the United States.{{cite web | url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-38651623 | title=Teetotal Trump and the drinking presidents | work=BBC News | date=19 January 2017 }}
• Albert Barnes{{snd}}American theologian, clergyman, abolitionist, temperance advocate, and author{{cite web |title=Albert Barnes |website=SwordSearcher |access-date=18 March 2024 |url=https://www.swordsearcher.com/christian-authors/albert-barnes.html}}
• Hugh Bourne{{snd}}American clergyman and one of the joint founders of Primitive Methodism{{cite web|title=Papers of Hugh Bourne - Collection 68|website=Billy Graham Center Archives|publisher=Wheaton College|url=http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/068.htm|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170728123601/http://www2.wheaton.edu/bgc/archives/GUIDES/068.htm|archive-date=28 July 2017}}
• George N. Briggs{{snd}}19th Governor of Massachusetts, from 1844 to 1851{{cite book|last=Giddings|first=Edward Jonathan|title=American Christian Rulers, or Religion and Men of Government|url=https://archive.org/details/americanchristia00gidd/page/66/mode/2up|page=66|location=New York|publisher=Bromfield & Company|year=1890|oclc=5929456}}
• Neal Dow{{snd}}American Prohibition advocate and mayor of Portland, Maine, from 1851 to 1852 and from 1855 to 1856{{cite book |last=Dow |first=Neal |title=The Reminiscences of Neal Dow: Recollections of Eighty Years |location=Portland, ME |publisher=Evening Express Pub. Co. |page=682 |date=1898 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dE_P6FOcQSQC&dq=%22neal+dow%22+teetotaler&pg=PA682 |url-status=live |access-date=18 March 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170423054450/https://books.google.com/books?id=dE_P6FOcQSQC&pg=PA682&lpg=PA682&dq=%22neal+dow%22+teetotaler&source=web&ots=LqdKkerkWd&sig=rhhY0YQMGOcX4E-vKc_Wnel0lu8#v=onepage&q=%22neal%20dow%22%20teetotaler&f=false |archive-date=23 April 2017}}
• Stuart Hamblen{{snd}}American entertainer and Prohibition Party candidate for U.S. President in the 1952 presidential election{{cite news|title=Stuart Hamblen, 80, Singer and Candidate (Obituary)|date=9 March 1989|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1989/03/09/obituaries/stuart-hamblen-80-singer-and-candidate.html|access-date=21 August 2024}}
• Lucy Webb Hayes{{snd}}wife of Rutherford B. Hayes and first lady of the United States from 1877 to 1881{{cite book |editor-last=Gould |editor-first=Lewis L. |title=American First Ladies: Their Lives and Their Legacy |date=1996 |location=New York |publisher=Garland Publishing, Inc. |pages=216, 224 |url=https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780815325857/page/224/mode/2up |isbn=0815314795}}
• Carrie Nation{{snd}}American who was a radical member of the temperance movement, which opposed alcohol before the advent of Prohibition. Nation is noted for attacking alcohol-serving establishments (most often taverns) with a hatchet.{{cite news|title=Hatchet job on drink was a right Carrie on|work=WalesOnline|date=25 March 2008|url=https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/local-news/hatchet-job-drink-right-carrie-2191544|access-date=19 September 2024}}

==See also==

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Blue ribbon badge
• Catch-my-Pal
• Christianity and alcohol
• List of Temperance organizations
• Theobald Mathew (temperance reformer)
• Native American temperance activists
• Pioneer Total Abstinence Association
• Sobriety
• Sober curious
• Straight edge
• Temperance bar
• Woman's Christian Temperance Union
• Word of Wisdom

{{reflist}}

• {{wiktionary-inline|teetotal}}

{{Alcohealth}}

{{Prohibition}}

Category:Asceticism

Category:Intentional living

Category:Lifestyles

Category:Temperance movement

Category:Religion and alcohol