Drinkers: alcoholic, drunkard, inebriate, boozer, sot...

English as a Second Language English Vocabulary, Grammar and Idioms
1

Hi,

I find so many “drinkers” in my dictionary: alcoholic, drunkard, inebriate, boozer, sot, soak, wino, toper,guzzler, rummy, lush, and souse.

They have similar meanings: people who is a regular drinker or habitual alcoholic. But there must be some emotional differences when we use them , are they all derogatory terms? :roll:

2

Hi FangFang

I’m not familiar with all of the “alcoholic” terms you listed. I guess some are primarily British, some primarily American, etc. Some are probably simply less often used.

But, for me, words meaning “alcoholic” all carry negative connotation. Here are some of my personal feelings associated with some of the words you mentioned:

  • Drinker is the word closest to “neutral” because the person doesn’t necessarily have a “problem” with alcohol. This word is usually qualified in order to describe the person’s drinking habits.
    For example, a social drinker only drinks alcohol in small quantities and never alone. And, of course, saying someone is a coffee drinker only means they drink coffee. On the other hand, saying someone is a heavy drinker means they drink alcohol to excess.
  • Alcoholic sounds the most “clinical”. This person is “addicted” to alcohol and has a serious problem.
  • Wino brings to mind a poor or homeless person who is constantly drunk on cheap wine.
  • Lush and boozer: these drinkers are probably people in a higher income class than winos, and also usually and frequently get drunk on something stronger than wine or beer. These terms are quite negative.

How’s that for a start? :wink:

Amy

[size=75]Edit: I decided that I should correct a couple of typos.[/size]

3

Hi

Yes, I can add that in my language
(and my country is a not-bad expert in hard/heavy drinking :slight_smile: :frowning: :frowning: )
alcoholic also refers to rather a (medical) diagnosis (that describes a degree of alcohol addiction - when a person can’t resist it),
whereas others - heavy drinker, (confirmed) drunkard, sot, toper and many others :slight_smile: are colloquial forms for the same.

By the way, ‘the worst’ (hopelless) case in Russian is literally - bitter drunkard.

4

Hi, Amy and Tamara:
Indeed it is a good start!! :smiley: That is what i want to learn!!!
In fact, i found these words in the TOEFL dictionary, when i read them i feel a bit confused. Because i don’t know whether i can use them without any difference. I will add some other terms here, maybe you don’t know them, :lol: :lol:
“Drunkard” : formal and derogatory , the same as “inebriate”???
“Dipsomaniac”: be addictive to alcoholic extremely, appearing to be ill??
“Boozer”: you said that people with high income(i don’t know), additionally, “boozer” drinks a lot and still feel good?
“Sot”: i can understand this easily, people drinking alcoholic everyday, holding cups wherever and whenever, i can see “them” in movies.
“Soak”: it is american slang?
“Wino”: it is used often, i see!
“Toper”: people drinking a lot at a time??
“Rummy”: american slang again???
“Guzzler”: rich classes , spending money on alcoholic and other things freely
“Lush”: american slang , again, ehehe, people drinking strong alcoholic ???
“Souse”: can’t find it in other dictionary, :roll:
well, you must be right, Amy, some words can’t be found and used , but they are listed behind “alcoholic” , a long list, i wonder if they are all neccessary for a tofel test?? :roll:
Finally, here is the slogan" No alcoholic" :lol:

5

Hi Yankee,
let me join this interesting discussion :D. Is it possible to say “a heavy coffee drinker”? Is such a term accepted? Or can I say that just for humour?
And one more: In one of Mark twain’s books I came across the phrase “drunk as a fiddle”. Again, is this term acepted, or is it just Twain’s humorous creation?