Literary Drinking Vocabulary

I'm not as nearly as prolific a reader as I once was, but I still go through at least two books a month.  There was a time when I was on the path to being a literature professor, although I only made it halfway through the program, taking my master's degree and choosing to drink instead.  When I find a book that combines my favorite hobby of imbibing with the voracious vocabulary of an old Dennis Miller stand up, it's a rare treat.  Since I received a Kindle for Valentine's Day (a device I thought I would most definitely abhor, yet instead am now endeared to), I've been going back to the classics because they are free to download.  Moby Dick is a book that I just never got around to, and, man - is it full of alcohol related zingers!  Here are two true winners:

Toper - a person who regularly drinks alcohol to excess

Obstreperous - loud and difficult to control

I'm only about fifteen pages in, but I'm really gearing up to unleash a few of these at work - especially on the folks who spend too long in the tasting bar.  "Aye, hurry up ye obstreperous topers and get yerselves into the store.  There are portentous deeds that must be attended to of the arrantest importance!"  I'll be talking like that for the next week at least!  The point is: read Moby Dick if you want to learn a few new words related to booze, boozing, and boozers. 

-David Driscoll