Originally Posted by
IOAA2 
I’m shocked! After many sober years I come to the internet and find I’m no longer an alcoholic. This internet thingee is so far ahead of modern medicine and science.
So now not being an alcoholic I can drink in safety?
Posts like that scare me regarding the newcomer.
BE WELL
I've had this discussion before with Jeffrey. He doesn't identify with the term "alcoholic" because the dictionary definition doesn't include anything that says "Someone who developed an addiction to alcohol but has since stopped drinking." (If I'm wrong, Jeffrey, feel free to correct me.)
No worries -- I'll petition to have it included in the next edition
The point is, whether the dictionary endorses the word being used in this particular way or not, its usage is common enough among people in the recovery world to describe the way an alcohol addiction may be in remission, but still has the potential to be reactivated at any time with as little as one drink.