Wino (slang term)

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Wino is a slang term used to describe people who consume large amounts of cheap wine, sometimes applied to consumers of other forms of alcohol beverages. Wine is the drink of choice for poor alcoholics due to its high alcohol content, availability and cheap price. Most commonly, the term is applied to bums and homeless people who spend money on liquor. A common image of a wino is that of a disheveled skid row bum drinking cheap wine from a bottle concealed within a paper bag.

Such an image is a cliche, and by no means definitive, as any person who consumes alcohol might be described by someone as a wino. A person from other social classes may use the word to describe themselves (though often in a somewhat jocular manner), especially if they consume large amounts of wine. Some people who are more well-off may extend the idea by using the homonym wineaux, to refer to wine connoseurs, though most-commonly in print. Napa Valley, a region in California that produces a lot of wine, once even had a pirate radio station which used WINO as its unofficial call letters.