Now that I'm not drinking, I'm not "an alcoholic" - I'm sober

As in most areas of life, I don't feel concerned about how other people choose to understand themselves. If someone hasn't had a drink for 20 years and still thinks of themself as an alcoholic, that doesn't worry me at all, especially if it's something that's helping them to be well.

What does bother me is if that person turns around and tells me that, having struggled with drinking in the past, I am and will always be an alcoholic, and if I don't do the exact thing that they think I should do, I will relapse and die. I think that is just an absolutely wild thing to say to someone. I'm not an alcoholic - I'm sober!

I suppose words mean what people use them to mean, and if AA has redefined this word internally then that's up to them. But it's not a definition that works for me.

I'd be interested to hear other people's thoughts on this. Am I being overly semantic? This bugs me