Why do people get so ANGRY when someone who eats fish calls themself vegetarian?!

Some people have anger issues and love animals so much that when people use the term incorrectly (either out of ignorance or for convience) they feel it's a personal affront- they don't want to be associated with people who eat ANY animal so people who eat fish and call themselves "vegetarian" bug them because for many of them it's not just a health decision to become vegetarian, but part of their moral belief system and that irritates them. I think they think that people who misuse the term make them look bad or like hypocrits because a lot of people already put down vegetarians or call them "bleeding hearts" etc, so when someone misuses the term, they have zero patience and get angry. I think it's similar to how anyone who is hard-core into any issue takes offence when terms aren't used properly. And as for tomatos, well, even botanists have trouble defining "vegetables"- "vegetable" is a recent term that people usually use to refer to plant life they eat that is savory instead of sweet- if something is a plant and sweet, it's a fruit, etc (yes, I know tomatos are fruits, as are avocados, etc)... people need to learn to chill out because freaking out at pescatarians doesn't accomplish anything and that sort of hard-core anger seems very right-wing and people who might be curious about vegetarianism or veganism can be turned off (it doesn't help the animals, it just alienates people who might've possibly become vegetarian or vegan later). In general, having compassion for people, being non-judgmental (you can still be passionate) and not shoving your beliefs or guilt tripping people is the best way to introduce them to a topic.

Fear and guilt trips (and extreme anger) just alienate people. I used to be vegetarian, for instance, but my body does not absorb non-heme iron properly and I kept getting severely anemic no matter what I did (yes, I took floravit, supplemetns, ate a lot of vegetarian foods rich in iron combined with vitamin C and had a food journal and I kept getting sick to the point where I could barely walk a few steps without gasping- for the moment I am a meat eater again and my sister, who is a hard-core vegan keeps posting videos on my facebook page about factory farms which are intended to make me feel badly and guilty- and they do! But eventually I just get angry! I already WANT to go back to being a vegetarian, so I know from personal experience that that sort of anger just aienates people and accomplishes NOTHING except making people angry at one another).

And they may be ignorant, but they aren't cretins. Cretin means "stupid, obtuse or mentally defective" and calling someone stupid for not knowing something is ignorant behavior right there. Nobody knows everything, which means we are ALL ignorant about something (well, we're all ignorant abut most things because information is infinite! We all only know a tiny bit!)

But they feel like their lifestyle isn't being respected and that people who don't have the same moral outlook or the personal "discipline" to be vegetarian are lumping themselves in with them. That would be my best guess.

Let's say someone who eats fish and calls himself a vegetarian goes out to eat. He has fish, giving the mistaken impression that vegetarians eat fish. Then someone who really is vegetarian goes to that same place, and the misguided and misinformed people at the location think, oh, vegetarian, we can give this person fish, and the real vegetarian has to set them straight and correct a mistaken impression and may end up going hungry.

There's no harm in mistakenly calling a tomato a vegetable. People who like tomatoes will eat them and not care that they really are fruits (as are avocadoes).

I think people are also tired of answering the question, which is asked a zillion times a day on YA.

Personally, I don't get upset.

But some of the more strict vegetarians do get upset, because they feel it is a slap in the face to why they are a vegetarian.

Because a vegetarian diet is about not eating animals, it can be annoying to hear someone who eats animals(fish/seafood) call themselves a vegetarian.

With that being said, I think a pescetarian diet is good. By not eating land animals, you do help against animal cruelty.

The only problem I have with pescetarianism is that a lot of people only do it as a fad or to lose weight.

But if everyone on the planet was either vegetarian or pescetarian, a lot less animals would be abused for food.

Vegetarian

Lol @ snails' answer - oh you really are slow ! (:
I've been a vegetarian since birth, tell me where this natural, instinctive, biological craving is? I can't miss something I havent tried.

Back to business, I think anyone who gets angry simply for the misunderstanding is overreacting. However, I think they do have a right to be irritated because you should know the meaning of a word before you label yourself. I would think that enough investigating would have been done in what a vegetarian can and can't eat in the first place. It does happen though. When I say I'm vegetarian some people still do ask first if I can eat fish just to be sure that I don't eat any animals, because they know that some people do eat fish and call themself a vegetarian. I think people can get a bit defensive about it because it is important that they don't spread the misconception and confuse people.

I only get annoyed--not angry--if the person knows the correct term and refuses to use it. Saying you're a vegetarian but eating fish furthers the misconception that fish is a vegetarian food, which makes it more likely that foods containing fish will be offered to me, and the person offering will try to argue when I say "sorry, I'm a vegetarian."

However, I'm all for the diet. Anyone who cuts back on their meat consumption or tries to obtain meat by ethical means is alright in my book. Just use the right title.

I don't get angry per se, but it does irritate me. When people who eat fish call themselves vegetarians, its causes confusion. Other people start to think that actual vegetarians eat fish. Then they get offered fish as a "vegetarian meal" when they go to someones house for dinner or to a restaurant.
Also, the point of being a vegetarian is to not consume animals. Fish are animals. They suffer just like the animals in factory farms. So when people say they're vegeterians, especially for ethical reasons, and then eat fish, they are being hypocrites and misleading others.

vegan :D

Fish is meat; clearly it's an animal.

Are you more of a vegetarian if you eat fish every day, than the person who only consumes meat (turkey) twice a year on Thanksgiving and Christmas?

What's the difference between the person who says "I'm a vegetarian but I eat fish" and the person who says, "I'm a vegetarian who eats chicken" or "I'm a vegetarian; I only eat pork, ham, bacon, beef, turkey, and chicken?"

Nothing is as infuriating as a hypocrite; that's why people get angry.

I don't get angry when someone who eats fish calls themselves vegetarian if they don't know what a vegetarian is.

How many of us have been offered fish after we tell people we're veg*n?

If a great deal of people don't understand that vegetarians don't eat fish, wouldn't it stand to reason that some "vegetarians" wouldn't understand that either?

That being said, I do find it somewhat annoying when these "vegetarians" insist on referring to themselves as vegetarian after they discover that fish isn't something that vegetarians eat.

vegan

My guess is perhaps they have met a lot of them claiming to be vegetarians but still eating fish so got irritated, maybe not all are really angry just very bored by it.
They think there is a need to explain so lesser people will be confused but at the same time is kinda frustrated when has to do it over and over again.
Everyone has mood so its not so difficult to meet someone who is happened to be unhappy that day.

HA! I think it's ironic that a lot of the answers to this are actually proving your point.

Calling people "idiots" or "ignorant cretins" for making a mistake is a horrible, judgmental thing to do.

I'm a vegan too, but would never be so nasty as to have a go at someone just for using the incorrect term.

Some people are just horrible and judgmental and think they're superior enough to insult people who make a mistake.

Vegan

It perpetuates the myth that vegetarians eat fish. This in turn leads to the vegetarian option at weddings or restaurants being a fish dish. Or having dishes with fish sauce marked as vegetarian. Which is all fine and good if you live in an area with a lot of vegetarian restaurants, but it sucks when you don't.

I don't get angry, I just get annoyed.

it confuses people. when people go somewhere and order a fish dish and then say they're a vegetarian people think that vegetarians eat fish and my cook/order fish for them because of that.

it doesn't make my hugely angry or anything, it's more of a thing that i just want to correct so it doesn't cause more confusion. i think it's great that they want to contribute to less animal suffering.

From what I have seen, its only people on this site that get worked up about it. I know many vegans and vegetarians in real life and no one has qualms about it.
I think its because it is mainly high school kids on here.
Everyone needs to keep their eyes on there own plate, its not hurting anyone if someone eats a vegetarian diet with an occasional fish thrown in the mix.

Well, fish is meat, fish have feelings so when they were killed they felt it. That's why I don't eat fish or any kind of meat. they're probably angry because they gave that up to be a true vegetarian while others who are still eating fish call themselves a vegetarian too. I don't think it's that big of a deal. I'm a vegetarian that doesn't get upset if someone is mistaken.

The correct question is actually Why do SOME VEGETARIANS get so angry when someone who eats fish calls themself vegetarian? Not all vegetarians get angry about this, and non-vegetarians couldn't care less what you call yourself.

They get angry because their world is small and they don't understand that it's a tiny, insignificant thing compared to the real issues of life.

I don't get angry about it but, it can cause a lot of confusion and awkward situations. If a friend of mine knows someone else who claims to be vegetarian but eats fish then my friend may invite me over for dinner etc and make a nice fish meal thinking I will eat it. Words have meaning and they should be used accurately.

for example, the other day i asked what veggie specials they had at this cafe and the woman started reeling off all these fish dishes. it makes you worried that they dont take vegetarianism seriously, or even know what theyre serving you. i'm sure you wouldnt like to be given a dish with dairy in, it's like that really, you want people working in the food industry to have basic knowledge! infact i came across the owner of a restaurant once who thought vegans were people who didn't eat fish and vegetarians ate fish. bit worrying really.

It leads other people to think that being a vegetarian means that you can eat fish. It confuses people. And its annoying when you go out to eat and the vegetarian dishes are full of fish.
It may be more convent for the pescaterians (classification not as well known) to say they are vegetarian but its less convient for the real vegetarians.

I think that the people getting so angry are the people who are vegetarians mainly for animal cruelty/rights reasons. So in that regard, when someone is saying they are vegetarian but eating fish, it is maddening.

It is understandable that some who eat fish call themselves vegetarians because of religious customs like Catholicism. However, honestly if anyone who think s that a fish is not in general an animal, is a damn idiot.

I don't know as I get "angry" exactly, but it's a little frustrating, because it causes confusion. It means that restaurants offer "tuna bake" as their only "vegetarian" option, and then I can't eat there.

You are over generalizing all vegetarians. Some don't get offended. Those that get angry are angry because fish is a living creatures and they don't eat living creatures.

NO! Tomatoes are a FRUIT! You should NEVER call them a vegetable! YOU ARE WRONG! MAY YOU ROT IN THE PRISON OF AZKABAN! rawr.

=)

Because fish eaters that call themselves vegetarians are idiots.

because they arnt vegetarian. Hey, atleast they contribute to the cause, a bit

There are different types of vegetarians. Like one's that eat red meat, ones that eat fish, one's that eggs and diary products. There are different kinds so I guess most people who aren't vegetarians believe that vegetarians don't eat any meat. But really the most common type of vegetarian is the one's that just don't eat animals, and fish are not animals. So a vegetarian can eat fish and still be called a vegetarian.

I've been a vegetarian for 4 1/2 years.

Because most vegetarians consider themselves a part of an exclusive group, defined largely by their moral and intellectual superiority. The answers given by Craig and Herbert Lom (and the numerous thumbs up they received) are excellent examples of this attitude.
They resent it when unqualified individuals attempt to breach the walls of their group (they also resent non-vegetarians answering questions in "their" section of yahoo answers), and often lash out with the same insults and criticism they use on all non-vegetarians.

because the egos of anti-meat lifestyle choice, get diminished if the radicals don't get their backs up?

because there is no point making a stand for independent though and lifestyle if you cant belittle the other guys?

because the natural biological craving for meat is starting to get to them?

because the people in question are in need of justification?

any or all of the above are valid possibilities, are they not?

2points will do, dont worry bout the 10!

only three thumbs down?
you can do better than that . read this on, might give you some perspective.
"Why are some people vegetarian?"
my answer might be of interest????

http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/ind…

5 thumbs down, thats more like it!
rational, mature and well read respondants no doubt.....

Vegetarians are the ones getting angry, and they get angry about a lot of things because they are depriving themselves of the natural foods that humans evolved eating, which is largely meat. This causes stress which leads to irrational anger.

They probably just want to help.

because most "Vegetarians" are constantly harping on those of us who eat meat about what a bad diet it is. So when they themselves cannot hold to their ideal...