Pescetarian - spread the word

Showmm
Showmm Posts: 406 Member
in Chit-Chat
I've been reading here and there on the forum, "vegetarian who occasionally eats fish". I also know people in real life who call themselves vegetarian but eat fish quite happily.

I have no issue with your diet choice, I have issues with how you define yourself. You aren't a vegetarian. If you eat no other meat but do eat fish, you are a PESCETARIAN. Spread the word, let everyone learn it. Knowledge is power, so let's empower everyone to understand the difference between vegetarian and pescetarian.

That way vegetarians who get invited over for dinner parties will stop being served baked salmon. And pescetarians can enjoy the animal protein they prefer, not be served chicken and not just have only plant-based proteins.

Replies

  • neandermagnon
    neandermagnon Posts: 7,436 Member
    I agree completely. Misuse of words causes nothing but confusion. Correct use of words makes communication so much easier.
  • emmaciation_
    emmaciation_ Posts: 6
    I get so mad when they call themselves vegetarians I'm like "NO!!!!!! YOU ARE CLUELESS!!!!!!!!!!" It makes me so angry, especially when they're like "yeah I've been a vegetarian for years but I eat fish" NO YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN VEGETARIAN AT ALL. GET YOUR FACTS RIGHT. You know what's even worse? When people say they're vegetarian but eat chicken......... WHAT is that???? A MEAT EATER!
    okay rant over
  • chooriyah
    chooriyah Posts: 469 Member
    PESCETARIANS UNITE!
  • irishblonde2011
    irishblonde2011 Posts: 618 Member
    Love this post.

    I understand if you are just starting out and don't know the difference. It can be very annoying when people think all vegetarians eat fish and you have to explain the difference because they know some one who calls themselves a vegetarian.
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I was once informed by a sandwich seller that the chicken mayo was vegetarian. Now, I'm sure the chicken was vegetarian but eating a vegetarian doesn't make you a vegetarian.
  • SkimFlatWhite68
    SkimFlatWhite68 Posts: 1,254 Member
    I must be one of the pescatarians who eats chicken. LOL. Jokes!!
  • nataliescalories
    nataliescalories Posts: 292 Member
    It is presumptive to assume that everyone is going to know a neologism like pescatarian. I'd understand (still only slightly) taking issue with someone who identified as "vegetarian" but also ate fish, but that's quite different than someone who identifies as having a vegetarian diet and also eats fish (such people are doing this best to avoid obfuscation by specifying that their diet is a semi-vegetarian diet).

    Speaking as a "pescatarian" for 20 years (pre-dating the very term and highlighting why it is problematic), 90% of the time when the issue comes up, I'm trying to convince a waiter that I can't eat soup with beef stock or something of the like--even if that random waiter doesn't know what a pescatarian is, he will know what a vegetarian is and I don't have to feel sick all night at the cost of spreading a new word. That same waiter won't be confused when you ask if something is vegetarian because instead of just throwing out a new word, I've clarified my dietary needs as vegetarian plus fish, clarifying to him that fish is not a part of the vegetarian diet.

    One might also appreciate that the term "pescatarian" is not even found in the OED (I just checked the most up-to-date version).

    And also, the OED definition of "vegetarian" does indeed have leeway.

    "A. n.
    1.
    Thesaurus »

    a. A person who abstains from eating animal food and lives principally or wholly on a plant-based diet; esp. a person who avoids meat and often fish but who will consume dairy products and eggs in addition to vegetable foods. Cf. vegan n.2"
  • darrensurrey
    darrensurrey Posts: 3,942 Member
    I must be one of the pescatarians who eats chicken. LOL. Jokes!!

    :laugh: I'm gonna try that one. "I've been a pescatarian for 20 years but I do eat beef, pork and chicken."
  • Showmm
    Showmm Posts: 406 Member
    It is presumptive to assume that everyone is going to know a neologism like pescatarian. I'd understand (still only slightly) taking issue with someone who identified as "vegetarian" but also ate fish, but that's quite different than someone who identifies as having a vegetarian diet and also eats fish (such people are doing this best to avoid obfuscation by specifying that their diet is a semi-vegetarian diet).
    I'm not presuming anything, I'm suggesting people spread the use of the word so that more people can become aware of the difference. However with your example, I don't see the difference between calling oneself vegetarian and eating fish and saying you have a vegetarian diet and eating fish. Feel free to elucidate.

    And also, the OED definition of "vegetarian" does indeed have leeway.

    "A. n.
    1.
    Thesaurus »

    a. A person who abstains from eating animal food and lives principally or wholly on a plant-based diet; esp. a person who avoids meat and often fish but who will consume dairy products and eggs in addition to vegetable foods. Cf. vegan n.2"

    Despite your example from the dictionary, I don't think most people would define it that way. Nor does any other definition of the word listed, including the short version of the OED definition (to which most people would have access, rather than the full as you and I do) make any leeway for fish. Wikipedia and Wiktionary, which everyone with Internet access can read, does list pescetarian, plus the definition of vegetarian is very clear-cut. From Wikipedia: "Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat – red meat, poultry, seafood and the flesh of any other animal; it may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter, such as animal-derived rennet and gelatin."

    If you want to call yourself vegetarian and eat fish, I can't stop you. But don't be surprised if by defining yourself loosely, others will loosely interpret what you mean and serve you chicken salad because, hey, it's white meat, that must be what you mean. Why not instead help educate people with the word pescetarian?
  • toddis
    toddis Posts: 941 Member
    A pescetarian who also eats chicken is called a beady-eye vegetarian. This could be referring to the person or the food they eat =P

    It's easier to convey the idea by saying I'm mostly vegetarian but I also eat fish. 90% of people wont know wtf a pescetarian is and you'll have to inform them anyways.

    It's such a fishy word anyways.
  • links_slayer
    links_slayer Posts: 1,151 Member
    http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/d856368ff4/jim-gaffigan-on-vegetarians-from-standupfan

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