veganism: "Vegetarians don't eat anything that moves." "Vegetarians don't eat beef or pork or chicken or turkey or fish or shrimp or lobster or..." "Vegetarians don't eat anything from a farm." "Vegetarians don't eat anything with legs." "Vegetarians don't eat anything with a face." What's so complicated about vegetarianism that makes people invent their own crazy definitions of it? Is "vegetarians don't eat animals" really so hard to understand?|||It's a direct result of meat eaters who can't grasp the concept of "Vegetarians don't eat animals".|||They're not rules, but definitions. Bascially, they are individual variations of the same theme. It's not hard to understand at all, not if you want to understand it. The problem is that omnivores tend to be scared of the idea or hostile to the idea, and belittle some explanations, so we just keep trying. My preference is that I won't eat anything from anything with a nervous system.|||I totally see what you mean... I wish it were as simple as saying "I don't eat animals" as well. Unfortunately, not everyone seems to understand the concept of "Animal." You have people constantly trying to bend the very definition of Animal. People, including "vegetarians," claim they eat fish and that they are not meat. It is ridiculous and silly. If everyone could use informed common sense to understand "animal" and "not-animal," I would have to explain my lunch a lot less often at business meetings. (As a side note, I wish I didn't have to explain a salad and fries with BBQ sauce, as I don't ask anyone else to explain his or her bacon double cheeseburger) :) In their defense however, there are many names for animal meat that are hidden in things. So, I can completely understand why people have a lot of questions about why I cannot drink gas station cappuccino or eat several types of bakery. There are also different levels of being vegetarian. I don't eat eggs, so there is also the added complexity of that. I guess lifestyles aren't always so simple to explain. EDIT- Oh yes, and (as I am sure you have seen quite often here) the non-vegetarians who cannot understand differing lifestyles always have to pose every hypothetical question and potential "loophole" possible to try to find any tiny way in which you might, even in some parallel universe, begin to eat meat or finally fall back into their accepted view of the universe. Unfortunately, we get drawn into said silly things... Thus, huge definitions and ridiculous rules are born. I myself am now trying to lean more toward passive resistance and ignoring in said cases.|||So I can eat out in restaurants without getting into complicated discussions, or being offered fish. You wouldn't be asking, though, if it wasn't for "I'm-a-vegetarian-but" types. Curse their oily hides!|||Because there are ALOT of people that think vegetarians eat fish and chicken. For some reason, people think that a fish is not an animal so it is explained in the simplest form so they understand. I have seen many, many questions like "Do vegetarians eat fish?". The people that ask are not making the "fish is actually an animal" connection so a very basic answer must be provided.|||Sometimes I tell people I don't eat anything with a mother because some people can't seem to understand that fish/seafood aren't vegetarian.|||I agree with you. A vegetarian does not eat meat, fish, poulty or slaughter by-products Its so simple. The defintion is in dictionaries and supported by the main vegetarian organisations in the world. Just this last week I've had people tell me they are vegetarain and : Its ok to eat fish Its ok to eat beef once in a while Its ok to eat cheese with dead cows in it Its ok to drink beer with dead fish in it..... to me its just a sad inditment on people that they choose to make up thier own definitions becasue they cannot be bothered to learn the real definition. Or worse, they CHOOSE to ignore it....for what reasion, i have no clue ? "lovely"'s answer sums up your point. there is no need to say "i don't eat anything with a face". If someone cannot understand a chicken or fish is an animal then that situation needs to be explained to them. If you are a veggie, stand up and say "I'm a veggie", don't patronise meateaters jsut because they can be ignorant. I often get : me: " What vegetarian food do you have ?" them ":We have fish" me: no , i'm vegetarian" them:"we have fish" me: no , i'm vegetarian" them:....etc eventually, i hear a penny drop and they understand. No need to start on the "its got a face/mother" stuff|||Think of vegetarianism as a religion, which it is. Lots of rules and every vegan I ever met was as dogmatic as a Shia mullah. You're dead on right when you use the word "invent". And vegans pretty much all have that "holier than thou" attitude. I once had a friend who was a vegan and when he saw me fix a raw hamburger sandwich he tossed his cookies. He thought I should be dead. Been eating them for over forty years. I'm waiting for when some vegan discovers that all plants are conscious beings and suffer pain when harvested. (Plants do have a "nervous system" by the way) Then you'll have a new breed of vegans who eat only dirt.|||Vegetarianism is a diet. Veganism is a way of life and not consuming animals is just a natural extension of believing that animals are not ours to kill, torture, enslave, or dominate. There is nothing complicated about not eating meat/dairy/egg if you realize what they are... murder/excretions/menstral waste. Life taken from another being that you don't need, you just want and accept that you cannot survive without.|||Because there are people who don't understand these basic facts. If a person goes to a restaurant, says "I'm vegetarian" and orders seafood, then the waitstaff will assume that seafood is vegetarian (OK, maybe not but some will). Then when the stricter vegetarians go eat there, they get an unpleasant surprise. This is just an example. Like many things in life, there is need for a uniform code that people can understand to avoid confusion. Nikkor, Plants have a nervous system? Huh? Do you know something we don't? Shouldn't you be, like, applying for the Nobel Prize or something?|||We do it because we feel we have to define things in order to have a fully formed identity. Or maybe vegatarians are hallucinating due to the lack of protein and say bizarre things. Or maybe it's a conspiracy by meat eaters to make it seem like vegatarians are nuts. Maybe it's a way to justify a lifestyle we know others don't agree with. Who knows, just do what YOU believe in and don't let others you have to do certain things to be a vegatarian. Is anyone else craving bacon now! UPDATE: Oh come on and have a sense of humor - I meant veggie bacon of course ;) !!|||My boss of 3 years just recently found out I'm vegetarian. Here's how the conversation went: Him- "Why don't you eat meat?" Me- "Why do you eat meat?" Him - "I love it." Me - "I hate it." That probably didn't answer your question at all *sorry* but then again, we ADHD-types aren't very good at holding up our end of a chat LOL.|||I say I don't eat anything with face. Reason: Because if I say I don't eat animals people say, "But you eat chicken and fish, right?" So that seems to clear up the confusion on whether a creature has to be a mammal to be an animal. Psycho: Good point. There are exceptions to every rule.