| William: | Hello and welcome to The English We Speak. My name is William Kremer. |
| Helen: | And I'm Helen. Hello. |
| William: | So, are you going to go out after work tonight, Helen? |
| Helen: | You mean for Rob's birthday? What's the plan? |
| William: | Well, I think we're just going to head to the Fox and Flowerpot at 6.00pm. |
| Helen: | Going to the pub again? No, I think I'll give it a miss this time. |
| William: | Oh no! Why? Have you got plans? |
| Helen: | No, it's just ... |
| William: | You don't like Rob, maybe? |
| Helen: | No, no—that's not the reason. I just don't like going to the pub all the time. I don't really drink, you know, and I always feel a bit awkward. |
| William: | Ah, I didn't know you were teetotal, Helen! |
| Helen: | Teetotal? |
| William: | Teetotal. This is an adjective that describes a person who doesn't drink alcohol. |
| Helen: | Right—so does this person just drink tea?! |
| William: | Well maybe! But actually, the word teetotal doesn't have anything to do with tea. It's spelled T.E.E.T.O.T.A.L. Let's listen to this example of the word being used: |
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| Man: | Have you bought the drinks for the party yet? |
| Woman: | Yep—I've got a case of wine and two boxes of beer. I've also got some soft drinks for Granny. She's teetotal nowadays. |
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| Helen: | Can you say, "I don't feel like drinking beer tonight ... I'm going to have a teetotal evening"? |
| William: | Well not really. We describe people as teetotal, and it means that they never drink alcohol. Now, teetotal is an adjective, but there is also a noun that we can use. See if you can hear it in this example: |
Man: My father used to drink heavily, you know. Every night he'd have a bottle of Scotch. Maybe that's why I've always been a teetotaller.
| Helen: | I heard the word teetotaller. And the speaker in that clip was describing why he was a teetotaller. Now William, where does this word come from? |
| William: | Well no-one is really sure, Helen. But it's worth saying that in the past it was used to describe someone who didn't drink and who also thought that drinking alcohol was a bad thing. I think nowadays it's a little bit softer. |
| Helen: | Well, truth be told William, I'm not a teetotaller. I like a drink every now and then but I just can't drink pint after pint of beer like you English people! |
| William: | Well, good for you Helen! But why don't you come to the pub anyway? You can just have an orange juice or a lemonade. No-one will laugh at you. |
| Helen: | No, they won't laugh at me, but they will ask me to drive them home! No, please tell Rob happy birthday but I don't feel like it tonight. But thanks for telling us about this interesting word, William. |
| William: | Well, don't mention it, Helen. Right, I'm off to the pub now. |
| Helen: | Don't drink too much! |
| William: | I won't! Bye! |
| Helen: | Bye! |
