I Like A Drink - What Am I?
Most of the names for people who like to have an alcoholic drink seem a bit too pejorative for my liking. Leaving out ALCOHOLIC as sufferers of a disease*, other phrases still have the nutella of disapproval spread all over them. HEAVY DRINKER seems tainted by Heavy Smoker (and look at the first picture you get when you put “Heavy Drinker” into Google Image Search). BOOZER rhymes with Loser. WINE SNOB / WINE TASTER / MEMBER OF A WINE APPRECIATION SOCIETY - all seem pretty keen on the wine aspect. And Snob and Taster both put a negative spin on what they are actually doing, guzzling bottles of wine by the pint. Swop BEER in for any of those occurrences of wine and the problem remains. Put the word ALCOHOL in again and you are back to the problem of alcoholic. And it isn’t the taste of the alcohol that I am keen on anyway. It is the nice drink + slight inebriation + social interaction I am after.
SOCIAL DRINKER comes close, but I always think it sounds a bit defensive. “I am a social drinker” = I only drink when I am hanging out with my alcoholic mates. And it also suggests there is little of worth in the drink itself that it needs to be coupled with company. BOOZEHOUND I rather like, though it again seems a bit aggressive, as if I snap my jaws on any passing jar of meths that comes to hand. Damnit, we need a proper phrase a proper name for those of us who like to drink.
So may I offer DRINKOPHILE up. Or BOOZOPHILE? Neither are ideal, but its a start. Any ideas?
*And it is a disease, like chicken pox, which you can catch and everything.
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FT's katstevens on July 31st, 2007
Hmmm. ‘Epicure’ isn’t booze-specific enough, really.
FT's Tom on July 31st, 2007
You’re after the drink equivalent of “foodie”, right?
Do the continentals have a word for it?
I guess the reason a word doesn’t exist is that drink-lovers tend to specialise, presumably out of fear that their appreciation of taste will be confused with appreciation of effect - whereas actually there’s an appreciation of taste and effect going on, you can’t separate them.
QUAFFIST.
(Side note: what do tobacco afficionadoes call themselves - to differentiate themselves from ‘regular’ smokers, I mean?)
RickyT on July 31st, 2007
Boozer?
FT's Tom on July 31st, 2007
The other problem with “boozer” is that it’s also an agreeably earthy name for the venue for drinking. Confusion abounds!
FT's pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør on July 31st, 2007
bibber
Tony Kiernan on July 31st, 2007
Lush! Let’s reclaim it for the …erm… lushes.
Lush4Evah!
FT's Pete Baran on July 31st, 2007
To go back to our old favourite the Geezer, there could be a happy cross-polination of Boozer and Geezer as BEAZER!
‘Biber - as in Imbiber - seems preferable to Bibber (sounds like Gibber). That said, I’ve always thought “foodie” to be a bit smug.
By the way, well done Epicurus, possibly the most accidentally followed philosopher in history (sure one for our times)!
FT's pˆnk s lord sükråt cunctør on July 31st, 2007
also bibulist, tippler, quaffer, toper and MALTWORM
FT's Admin on July 31st, 2007
alcopoptimist!
Madeup on July 31st, 2007
Toper
FT's Pete Baran on July 31st, 2007
Well Alcopoptimist would have been great ten years ago. Now its Cider Cyder Perry…
Drinksman.
FT's Admin on July 31st, 2007
bar-ometer?
FT's Pete Baran on July 31st, 2007
Always points to Fine while I am in the pub, but Storms when I leave…
FT's Alan on July 31st, 2007
brown ale -> winds light to variable
FT's tracerhand on July 31st, 2007
compliar
Ryan on September 4th, 2008
How about calling yourself a “Dionysian” ? It may sound somewhat cult-like, but it beats the hell out of being boozer!