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Hi Neil. Hi Georgie. Do you want to hear something quite unusual for me?

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Yes. I haven't had an alcoholic drink this year.

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Wow, that is really impressive. How do you feel? Like a new person?

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I do feel very good, I have to say. I can't say the same.

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I did have a few alcoholic drinks at the weekend with my friends.

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But in many parts of the world, people don't drink alcohol at all.

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In the UK, it's very common. That is, until recently.

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Today on 6 Minute English, we're going to find out why many people are choosing to give up or cut down on alcohol.

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And we'll be asking, is this the end of British drinking culture?

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OK, Neil, let's start with a quiz question.

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Many people in the UK and other countries choose to give up alcohol in the new year for the whole of the month of January.

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But what is the challenge called? Is it a) no-drink new year, b) alcohol-free January or c) dry January?

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Well, I know the answer to this, but I'm not going to give it away.

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OK, well then our listeners can find out the answer at the end of the programme. Yes, they can.

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So, Georgie, I hear all the time that younger people don't drink as much alcohol today as they used to in the past.

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Is that true?

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Well, in the UK, surveys suggest that 16 to 24-year-olds are more likely to be non-drinkers than the older generations.

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OK, so why are more young people choosing to be sober? That means not to drink alcohol.

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Well, the BBC World Service podcast What in the World have been investigating this.

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Presenter Hannah Gelbart met three young people who choose to be sober for some alcohol-free drinks to find out more.

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Here's Daniel's story.

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Yeah, so today I don't drink at all.

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But when I was in my early 20s, I think I felt maybe a bit of like societal pressure,

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you know, work drinks or being at uni where it was the norm to just join in.

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I think you'd probably get a few weird glasses if you're like, no, I'm not going to join in at all.

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So I did that. And I think COVID lockdown just gave me a bit of confidence to say, OK, let me step away from this.

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It's not necessarily something I want to do moving forward.

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So how many years have you been sober for? I would say it's been six years now. Six years.

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So, Daniel says that when he was younger, he felt societal pressure to drink alcohol.

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Societal pressure is feeling like you need to do something because lots of people around you are doing it.

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Right. So, Daniel says drinking was the norm at university and after work.

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The norm is a way of saying that something is normal or common.

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But during the Covid-19 pandemic, when people in the UK were unable to socialise and visit pubs and bars, Daniel's attitude to alcohol changed.

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After that, he decided to be sober and he hasn't had a drink for about six years.

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So, Georgie, it seems like many young people don't drink at all and lots of them share their experience of being sober on social media.

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But recently there's been a bit of a change, hasn't there?

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Yes, whilst many people use social media to share their experience of drinking less alcohol or no alcohol at all,

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some people have been saying that they want to go out more and drink and have fun with friends.

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They argue we're too worried about fitness and wellness and that drinking some alcohol to have a good time is fine.

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Here's Millie talking more about this to BBC World Service podcast What In The World.

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I think we had this like rise of self-optimization content.

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I think unfortunately sobriety kind of got swept in with that and it got touted as this way to, you know, get up at 5 a.m., do a high rocks.

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And, you know, for many of us, that's probably not our reality with not drinking. It's that we do it to feel a bit more sane or, you know, things like that.

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And so I think now we are entering this like almost pushback era of that content.

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You're seeing celebrities like it's not just alcohol.

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You see more celebrities smoking and like posting that on their Instagram and not worrying if it's brand friendly.

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OK, so Millie thinks that being sober is associated with certain kinds of self-optimisation content, where people talk about fitness, diet and having big goals for themselves.

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Yes, and Millie says being sober gets touted as a way to get up at 5am to exercise.

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In other words, people talk about it a lot and try to encourage people to do it.

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But Millie says that being sober isn't always about being super fit and healthy. For her, it's about being sane.

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But still, Millie thinks there's a pushback against self-optimisation content.

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Pushback means a criticism of the content, and people are pushing back by doing the opposite.

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For example, lots of celebrities post about themselves drinking and smoking.

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Well, Georgie, I've decided to try to give up alcohol for a whole year,

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but I don't think everybody should do that if they don't want to. It's really up to the individual.

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Yeah, I still enjoy having a few drinks with my friends. I think it's just all about balance, really.

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OK, Neil, it's time to reveal the answer to this week's question.

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I asked what was the name given for when people give up alcohol in January?

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Yes, and the answer is dry January. That is correct. Well done.

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Let's recap the vocabulary we learned in this programme,

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starting with sober, which describes someone who doesn't drink alcohol or take recreational drugs.

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Societal pressure is the feeling that you should do something because lots of other people expect you to.

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Saying something is the norm is a way to say it's usual or common.

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Self-optimisation content means videos and posts about being fit, healthy and achieving big goals.

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If somebody touts an idea or lifestyle, they talk about it a lot and try to convince people to do it.

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And pushback is strong criticism of a trend and people doing the opposite.

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Thank you for joining us and goodbye. Goodbye.