What is the origin of the word teetotaller?

Answer 1

The tee stands for the letter T, not tea, and is repeated for emphasis. A teetotaler is emphatic about not drinking.
It was first used in the sense of abstaining from alcohol at an 1833 temperance rally in England by a working man named Richard Turner.

Also said to have been introduced in 1827 in a New York temperance society which recorded a T after the signature of those who had pledged total abstinence, but contemporary evidence for this is wanting

Answer 2

One anecdote attributes the origin of the word to a meeting of the Preston Temperance Society in May 1832. This society was founded 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." The story attributes the word to Dickie Turner, a member of the society, who had a stammer, and in a speech said that nothing would do but "tee-tee-total abstinence".

A more likely explanation is that teetotal is simply a repetition of the 'T' in total. In England in the 1830s, when the word first appeared, it was also used in other contexts as an emphasised form of total. The word could also be confused as a fusion of the words tea, a common non-alcoholic beverage, and total, albeit with the spelling changed slightly — but this is widely considered to be incorrect.

Answer 3

One anecdote attributes the origin of the word to a meeting of the Preston Temperance Society in May 1832. This society was founded 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." The story attributes the word to Dickie Turner, a member of the society, who had a stammer, and in a speech said that nothing would do but "tee-tee-total abstinence".

Answer 4

Teetotalism is the practice and promotion of complete (or T-total) abstinence from alcoholic beverages. The word, at least in the abstinence sense, was coined by Richard “Dicky” Turner a member of the society, who did a stammering speech in a temperance meeting in Preston, Lancashire, in September 1833. There’s no formal record of what he said at the meeting—one report had it that his words were “nothing but the tee-total would do” but it is also claimed that he said in his strong local accent, “I’ll be reet down out-and-out t-t-total for ever and ever”. This word was often quoted in the journal, the Preston Temperance Advocate, giving the credit to him as inventor, and soon became a standard word in the language.

Answer 5

Probably from the Prohibition Era and more specifically Women's Christian Temperance Union. The expression (actually tea-totaller) means the person so described drinks tea totally, i.e. exclusively, meaning they abstain from alcohol.

Answer 6

In Nova Scotia and Ireland, as well as among those who are from those places, it is commonly spelled "tea-totaller" and is a reference to a love for tea over coffee, alcohol, or other strong beverages and bears no social stigma.

Answer 7

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teetotaller

Answer 8

Learn to do a search, dummy.

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-tee1.htm