Prescriptivism and descriptivism: vegetarian, vegan and dairy

[Benjamin Barrett]

On Feb 6, 2012, at 8:09 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:

> At 2/6/2012 11:06 AM, Joel S. Berson wrote:
>> To: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>, ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> From: "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at att.net>
>> Subject: Re: [ADS-L] Prescriptivism and descriptivism: vegetarian,
>> vegan and dairy
>>
>> At 2/4/2012 06:57 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>> On Feb 4, 2012, at 3:39 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>
>>>> On Feb 4, 2012, at 5:34 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> On Feb 4, 2012, at 1:49 PM, Laurence Horn wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> On Feb 4, 2012, at 3:54 PM, Benjamin Barrett wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> 1. vegetarian
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Vegetarians may be ovo-, lacto-, pesco- or other sorts, but
>>> only "vegetarian" is found in the OED. The AHD has them, but only
>>> with a hyphen. Wiktionary has reasonably good coverage.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Of course ovo- and lacto- (and ovo-lacto-) vegetarians are
>>> also vegetarians in the usual sense, while pesco-vegetarians (or
>>> pesky-, as some of my acquaintance call themselves) aren't.
>>>>>
>>>>> The "usual sense" is the issue in all of these items. I agree
>>> with you that pesco- and gallivegetarians (?)
>>>>
>>>> cock-o-vegetarians?
>>>>
>>>>> don't really fit the usual sense despite being widespread.
>>>>>
>>>>>>> Also, the OED defines "vegan" to be only in connection with
>>> eating. The AHD and Wiktionary also cover non-food use of animal
>>> products, which is very frequently part-and-parcel of this definition.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> Right: leather-wearing in particular.  And of course
>>> honey-eating, but that's food use.
>>>>>
>>>>> Good point. Honey should probably be included in the definition
>>> somewhere as some vegans eat it even though it's an animal product.
>>>>>
>>>> melo-vegetarians?
>>>
>>>
>>> There is some speculation about this, including mel and melo.
>>>
>>> http://cpanel14.newmediaexpress.com/~vegetari/my_forums/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=3308&view=next
>>> http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20081013095427AATboTt
>>> http://vegetarian.livejournal.com/3032149.html (including a wit who
>>> suggests the word "beegan"
>>> http://www.foodaq.com/html/Vegetarian-Vegan/201977.html
>>>
>>> I'm not holding my breath, but maybe it will catch on as the vegan
>>> movement grows...
>>>
>>> BB
>
> For vegans, doesn't it depend on whether the bees are cultivated (or
> should that be "herded"?) -- that is exploited, or it's just that
> their product is purloined?  And what about kosher vegans eating honey?

Wikipedia says: "Ethical vegans reject the commodity status of animals and the use of animal products for any purpose, while dietary vegans or strict vegetarians eliminate them from their diet only. Another form, environmental veganism, rejects the use of animal products on the premise that the industrial practice is environmentally damaging and unsustainable."

Then: "Neither the Vegan Society nor the American Vegan Society considers the use of honey, silk, or other insect products to be suitable for vegans, while Vegan Action and Vegan Outreach regard that as a matter of personal choice."

I'd never heard of making a difference between cultivated and wild bee honey, but clearly, the dictionary definition of vegan should accommodate both.

Benjamin Barrett
Seattle, WA

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