• Al‑Anon: An independent fellowship for relatives and friends of alcoholics. Its purpose is to offer support and share experience, strength, and hope with one another.

• AWOL: “A Way of Life.” A structured, long‑term step‑study format where members work through the 12 Steps together over a set period, usually six to twelve months.

• Closed Meeting: An AA meeting for anyone who has a desire to stop drinking.

• Cross‑Talk: Speaking directly to another member during their share, giving advice, interrupting, or responding to someone else’s share. AA shares are directed to the group as a whole.

• Dry Drunk: A person who is not drinking but is still experiencing emotional or behavioral patterns associated with active alcoholism, such as irritability, impulsivity, isolation, or romanticizing alcohol.

• Fellowship: The community of people in AA who share the common goal of staying sober and helping one another.

• Friend of Bill: A phrase used to identify someone as a member of AA in a discreet and respectful way.

• Geographical Cure: The attempt to escape alcoholism by moving to a new place. Since the problem is internal, changing locations alone doesn’t bring recovery.

• HALT: An acronym for Hungry, Angry, Lonely, Tired—four states that can make people more vulnerable to emotional imbalance or cravings.

• Harold‑itis: Light‑hearted slang for the inability to unmute yourself on Zoom. (Specific to NAAG)

• Higher Power: A personal concept of a power greater than oneself that can support recovery. It does not need to be religious; many choose the AA group or the fellowship as their Higher Power.

• Home Group: The AA group a member attends regularly and participates in. Having a home group helps build connection and accountability.

• IOP: Intensive Outpatient Program. A structured clinical treatment program that provides therapy and support while allowing individuals to live at home.

• Jackpot: AA slang for the negative consequences that happen as a result of drinking.

• Mocus: A foggy or confused mental state, often associated with early sobriety or detox.

• Old‑Timer: A member with long‑term sobriety, often considered ten years or more.

• Open Meeting: An AA meeting open to anyone interested in AA—members, newcomers, family, friends, or observers.

• Pink Cloud: A period of early recovery marked by feelings of excitement, hope, and euphoria, which may later level out as reality settles in.

• Rooms / Halls: Informal terms for AA meetings or meeting spaces.

• 7th Tradition: The principle that every AA group should be fully self‑supporting, declining outside contributions. Member contributions cover rent, literature, and service expenses.

• Sobriety: More than abstinence from alcohol; it includes emotional, spiritual, and behavioral growth toward living a healthy and honest life.

• Sponsor: An experienced AA member who offers guidance, support, and accountability, and who takes a sponsee through the Big Book and the 12 Steps.

• Step Study Meeting: A meeting focused on studying and sharing about the 12 Steps and how members apply them in their lives.

• Stinking Thinking: Negative or distorted thinking. 

• 13th Stepping: When a more experienced member pursues romantic or sexual involvement with a vulnerable newcomer. Widely discouraged as unsafe and inappropriate.

• The 12 Steps: The program of action outlined in the Big Book that members follow to achieve and maintain sobriety.

• The 12 Traditions: The principles that guide how AA groups function and maintain unity. While the Steps support personal recovery, the Traditions support group harmony and service.

• Two‑Stepper: Someone who jumps from Step One to Step Twelve—attending meetings and trying to help others without working the Steps themselves.

• This is A.A. — An Introduction to the A.A. Recovery Program

• Is A.A. for You?

• Do You Think You’re Different? 

• Frequently Asked Questions About AA

• Woman in A.A.

• Young People and A.A.

• Too Young?

• Is There an Alcoholic in Your Life? 

• Q&A on Sponsorship

• The Big Book 

• Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions

• Daily Reflections

• Grapevine

Get a free Big Book and/or 12 & 12 from Never Alone on the Literature page of the website! 

The Twenty Four Hour Plan*

One of the easiest, most practical ways of keeping sober is the day by day plan — the 24 Hour Plan: 

• Live in today only. Forget Yesterday. Do not anticipate tomorrow. 

• You can only live one day at a time, and if you do a good job of that, you will do well. 

• Whether you have been sober a day, a month, a year or a decade, one single drink is a certain way to go off on a binge or a series of binges. It is the first drink – not the second, fifth or twentieth – that gets you drunk.

• You know that it is possible to stay sober for 24 hours. You have done it many times. 

• Stay sober for one day at a time.  When you get up in the morning make your mind that you will not take a drink for the entire day.  Then go to bed at night grateful for a day of sobriety.

• Repeat the performance the next day and the next. Before you realize it you will have been sober a week, a month a year, and yet you will have only been sober one day at a time. 

*From “A Manual for Alcoholics Anonymous (the Akron Manual) first published in 1939.