What would I mean by saying "John is sober now"?
On one level, I mean "at the moment at which I am now speaking, an acquaintance of mine name 'John' is functioning unimpeded by alcohol."
But that is almost certainly NOT all I mean when I use the phrase idiomatically.
I might mean:
1) John, who is quite often drunk, is at a rare sober moment now. [So now may be a good time to talk to him about X.]
or maybe,
2) John, a recovering drunk, is working on, and for some recent period has been successful at, maintaining sobriety. [Thank God for that 12 step program.]
If neither (1) nor (2) is the case, then saying "John is sober now" of some random individual John who is usually sober, would generally be seen as defamatory, would it not? It would suggest to a third party that one or the other of those two idiomatic meanings is the case, and an acceptance of either of them as the truth can do harm.
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