To be sick of people thinking vegetarian eat fish

[Dearaugust]

Also, people who eat fish but not meat calling themselves vegetarian!

When people find out I’m vegetarian, a lot of people ask me if I eat fish. If I ate fish, then I wouldn’t be vegetarian! It wasn’t a big deal really, but an incident has happened recently where I was choosing a meal for a wedding and there was only meat options and a “none of these due to dietary preferences” option. So I ticked that. The person then contacted DH (it’s his friend who is getting married) and he explained I’m vegetarian. A few days later she said not to worry, they have sorted a fish meal for me. So he’s now had to go back to her again saying I don’t eat fish. What a faff!

I honestly thought it was common knowledge that vegetarians don’t eat fish. But apparently not because i get asked it a lot.

There aren't! Those people are not vegetarian. They might think they are but they are not.

I’m not comparing the activities of smoking and meat eating. I’m saying that if you do something occasionally - like smoking, drinking, eating meat - you can’t then say that you are a non-smoker, non-drinker or a vegetarian! Vegetarians don’t eat ANY meat. Therefore you are not a vegetarian because you don’t eat MUCH meat 🤯
No I didn’t miss out the word ‘mainly’, because being ‘mainly’ a vegetarian isn’t a thing. Again, you don’t eat much meat. You’re not ‘mainly a vegetarian’.

Because they do?
Just not some types.

No they don't.

You just said they are pescetarian, which means they don't eat meat apart from fish.
If they said they don't eat meat, they'd not be being truthful

They eat fish. Which is a type of meat.

Fish is not meat.
There is obviously a problem with pescetarians describing themselves incorrectly as vegetarians which impacts on actual vegetarians. I am suggesting that if pescetarians don't want to describe themselves as such they could just say that they don't eat meat. Or they eat meat but not fish. It's just an idea.

Should say "Or they don't eat meat but do eat fish. It's just an idea."

Where did I say 'I am a vegetarian' though? I didn't claim that. I'm mostly vegetarian not 100% vegetarian. It's more for personal reasons related to food textures etc and not for any ethical stance. The smoking point isn't relevant.

This thread is very much becoming We are all speshul but some people are more speshul than others....

It is relevant you just don’t understand it.

It's not relevant to mention smoking.
I'm mainly vegetarian.
You don't get a say on it, no matter how much you think you do.

It is relevant, because it's another example of a thing you either are or aren't. You either are or aren't vegetarian. Like, you either are or aren't faithful to your partner - do you think 'mainly faithful' is the same as faithful? If you eat hardly any meat, you still eat meat. Which is your choice, I don't care what you eat, if you don't call yourself something you're not. Have the veggie option when eating out, everyone can, just don't call yourself a veggie.

People who call themselves vegetarian when they are not, cause issues for the people who are because it messes up the definition of a word which needs a clear definition, that's the point of the OP.

"I'm NOT a serial killer - because most of the time, I don't killer anybody at all!"

Er, no. It isn't.
It is just trying to explain the differences between people's dietary preferences.

That comment says a lot about you.
I'm not vegetarian, but I'm not an arsehole about people who are.

People who call themselves vegetarian when they are not, cause issues for the people who are because it messes up the definition of a word which needs a clear definition, that's the point of the OP.

I agree.

How is fish not meat?

Which tree or plant does it grow on? Why does it have a face, animal-like vital organs and move around independently? Why does it resist when people kill it for food?

I'd say majority of vegetarian I know eat fish. In everyday life I don't care. The problem is when I try to organise an event for hobbies for 30+ people (like a camp) and taken account every food restriction and then they come out and take something not intended for them. Or they can't eat something that has been prepared cause they're vegetarian but don't eat eggs. So I would absolutely love it when you sign your kid up, you'd specify if they are pescaterians or if they're vegetarians minus eggs or anything else.

My friend says that she’s vegetarian but eats chicken 😂

My Auntie used to offer me fish fingers every time I stayed with her. She thought that they were a treat because my parents give me ‘nut roast and tofu’ 😂

Not at all - and I say that as an omnivore.

There's a commonly-understood, clear word, that's existed throughout the English-speaking world for a long time, which is a way that people who choose not to eat the flesh of land or sea animals or any of their products for which they have to die to provide describe themselves.

Other people can find a different word for themselves, as they choose, but that word is already taken.

It's like Bob insisting that he's a Muslim - except he doesn't believe in Allah, reckons that Mohammed was just an ordinary man and not a prophet at all, maybe says the odd general prayer every now and then, but nothing like five times a day, gorges himself silly throughout most of Ramadan (although he does occasionally skip brekfast when he wakes up late), never reads the Qu'ran and definitely never wants to go to Mecca as it seems utterly pointless to him.

"Ah, but of course Bob IS a Muslim... he's just a different kind of Muslim from all of the others..."

Er, yes it is. It's full of people trying to explain why they are right and someone else is wrong. Live and let live, I am not arsehole either.

Your live and let live policy falls down if you're served seafood as part of your vegetarian meal and are allergic to it.

This thread went in an odd direction.

Not sure why people get so excited about what others eat or don’t eat.

I know a lot of meat eaters who are far more fussy than vegetarians.

Eating vegetarian or just more vegetables more often would make us much healthier as a nation. If people achieve that by eating vegetarian then good for them, crack on.

I know there is a stereotype about militant vegans droning on about it but I’ve never met any personally.

Not remotely comparable.
Murder is a crime.
Food choices are not crimes.

Pescetarians don't 'eat meat but not fish '. They eat fish, not other types of meat.

If fish 'isn't a type of meat', what do you propose it is? It is a type of animal flesh.

Again, your opinion is of no relevance to me. I'm mostly vegetarian.

Anyone who is allergic to any food needs to double check what's in their meal.