teetotal

teetotal
\ \ [19] The adverb teetotally is first recorded in America in 1832 (James Hall, in his Legends of West Philadelphia, recorded a Kentucky backwoodsman as saying ‘These Mingoes … ought to be essentially, and particularly, and tee-totally obflisticated off of the face of the whole yearth’); the tee represents the initial t of total, as if repeating it to give extra emphasis to the word. The application of the adjective teetotal to ‘total abstinence from alcohol’ (that is, including beer, and not just spirits) is virtually contemporary. It is credited to a certain Richard Turner, of Preston, Lancashire, who is reputed to have used it in a speech to a temperance society in September 1833.

Word origins - 2ed. . 2005.

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  • Teetotal — Tee*to tal, a. Entire; total. [Colloq.] [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • teetotal — (v.) pledged to total abstinence from intoxicating drink, 1834, possibly formed from TOTAL (Cf. total) with a reduplication of the initial T for emphasis (T totally totally, though not in an abstinence sense, is recorded in Kentucky dialect from… …   Etymology dictionary

  • teetotal — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ choosing or characterized by abstinence from alcohol. DERIVATIVES teetotalism noun teetotaller noun. ORIGIN emphatic extension of TOTAL(Cf. ↑totally), apparently first used by Richard Turner, a worker from Preston, in a speech… …   English terms dictionary

  • teetotal — [tē′tōt′ l, tē′tōt΄ l] adj. [redupl., for emphasis, of initial letter of TOTAL] 1. Informal entire; complete 2. of or advocating teetotalism teetotaler n. teetotaller teetotally adv …   English World dictionary

  • teetotal — [[t]tiːto͟ʊt(ə)l, AM ti͟ːtoʊt(ə)l[/t]] ADJ: usu v link ADJ Someone who is teetotal does not drink alcohol. He will not be having a celebratory drink, as he is teetotal …   English dictionary

  • teetotal — adj. (esp. BrE) VERBS ▪ be ▪ become ▪ remain ADVERB ▪ strictly ▪ I m strictly teetotal …   Collocations dictionary

  • teetotal — tee|to|tal [ˌti:ˈtəutl US ˈtou ] adj someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol >teetotalism n [U] …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • teetotal — tee|to|tal [ ti toutl ] adjective someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol ╾ tee|to|tal|ism noun uncount …   Usage of the words and phrases in modern English

  • teetotal — [19] The adverb teetotally is first recorded in America in 1832 (James Hall, in his Legends of West Philadelphia, recorded a Kentucky backwoodsman as saying ‘These Mingoes … ought to be essentially, and particularly, and tee totally obflisticated …   The Hutchinson dictionary of word origins

  • teetotal — UK [tiːˈtəʊt(ə)l] / US [tɪˈtoʊt(ə)l] adjective someone who is teetotal never drinks alcohol Derived word: teetotalism noun uncountable …   English dictionary

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