Word of the Day

Sunday, July 06, 2003

toper

\TOH-puhr\ , noun;

One who drinks frequently or to excess.

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Quotes:

Although he was no toper, God forbid, he took a glass of aquavit . . . .

-- Isaac Bashevis Singer, Reaches of Heaven

But there remains a core of bottom-line voters to whom the promise of tax cuts is as seductive as gin to a toper.

-- David Nyhan, "Tax cuts for all - wheee!", Boston Globe, January 21, 2000

You may walk around a bar with a big mug of beer . . . , but if you sloshed it all over a fellow toper, you'd pay the cleaning bill.

-- Randy Cohen, "At Random: Everyday Ethics", Chicago Tribune, June 10, 2003

Origin:

Toper is formed from the verb tope, "to drink," originally an interjection used in proposing a toast, from French tope!, "agreed!" from toper, "to cover a stake in playing at dice, to accept an offer, to agree."