When did a fish become a vegetable?

Or better yet, when did a fish cease to be an animal?

I am a bit freaked out. I have been a vegetarian for over 6 years, and I have never heard (before Y!Answers) the idea of vegetarians EATING sea animals.

Vegetarians do not eat animals. Fish are animals. Vegetarians do not eat fish.

Having a name for people who do not eat any other animals than sea life is fine, but it has nothing to do with vegetarianism.

鈥?ANIMAL- noun
Etymology: Latin, from animale, ANIMATE,
1 : any of a kingdom of living things including many-celled organisms and often many of the single-celled ones (as protozoans) that typically differ from plants, and in having the capacity for Spontaneous Movement and motor responses to stimulation鈥?br>
This isn鈥檛 completely rhetorical, and I expect to have people complain at me, but someone tell me what this about. When did this concept become taken seriously by vegetarians? How can a person who eats animals (have they fins or legs) be considered a vegetarian?

I understand there are various forms of vegetarianism because I read a lot.

But I still feel the second you eat an animal, you are, by very definition Not a vegetarian. An animal is an animal, and I can't find a logical argument against that.

Can't they be "semi-meat-eaters" or say "I don't eat red meat" or "I still eat fish so I am not quite a vegetarian yet."

ps. We vegetarians can have quite healthy diets, so please do not start arguing that.

"A vegetarian diet is one that excludes all or most animal products, particularly a diet that excludes any food that requires the death of an animal."

I suppose people can call themselves whatever they want. I can engage in acts of violence, rationalize them with the excuse of "self-defense" and call myself a pacifist... but would that make me a pacifist? I can go to Church every Sunday morning, spend the rest of the week judging the people around me and still refer to myself as a Christian... but would I really be one?

There are different levels of vegetarianism... people who don't eat animals but are willing to eat eggs or dairy products (ovo-lacto vegetarians), people who don't eat animals or animal products of any sort (classical vegetarians) and people who won't eat, wear or otherwise use any animal or animal product (vegans...) but the common denominator is to refrain from consuming animals. People who eat birds or fish are not vegetarians... they are simply non-vegetarians who refrain from eating red meat.

Just another form of being vegetarian.
Like catholics who can't eat meat on Fridays--eat fish...

THANK YOU!!! I am getting tired of people calling themselves "pesco-vegetarians", "pollo-vegetarians",
"semi-vegetarians", etc. They are NOT vegetarian. Sorry, but a person cannot call themselves "vegetarian" if they eat fish, poultry or beef flesh!
It's great that they decide to not eat a certain type of meat, but they are not vegetarian unless they avoid all types.

I just LOVE vegetables, I'll eat any vegetable you put in front of me, even the gross ones like eggplant, okra, squash, celery, peas, carrots, lettuce, or kohlrabi. I am a vegetarian big time, BUT I also eat meat, especially small game, big game, jack rabbits, mice, fish, eels, mountain goat, Yak, and toads. Mmmmmm. I'm a vegetarian.

its strange i know vegetarian people that eat fish...well i mean HOW WILL THEY GET THEIR VITAMIN B's and proteins? if they dont anything that contains that stuff

It didn't. Many vegetarians eat fish, so they can at least have a semblance of a healthy diet.

From a nutritionist's perspective, there is actually a lot of leeway under the term "vegetarian", from complete vegans who will not drink wine due to animal products used in its' production to lacto-ovo vegetarians, to semi-vegetarianism, whose adherents eat fish, dairy, and sometimes chicken...It's up to you to decide what you think about what you want to eat...

Fish have never become a veggie.
Some fish eat seaweed like some humans.
Other fish eat smaller fish because they need more protein to live without getting sick.

It is a corruption of the term "vegetarian". As far as I know, a true vegetarian eats vegetables only, no meat, fish, birds, etc.

Those who eat fish and still call themselves vegetarians should call themselves "i diots"

I'm a vegetarian, have been for years. And just because you johnny-come-lately's want to segregate vegetarianism into exactly what you had for breakfast and if it was arranged right, doesn't make it so.

define: Vegetarian
People who leave meat, poultry, fish and other animal-derived foods out of their diets.

So if you meet the definition you're a Vegetarian otherwise your somethin' else that includes vegetables in your diet.

I think it stems from religion actually. What group obstains from "meat" on Friday's and instead eats "fish"? I think that group made it up because they could not bear to not eat flesh for one day a week and decided that fish is not a meat.

maybe they just like the label. but your right, its not veggie!

I could just hug you right now! For the past week or so I've noticed many people either claiming or asking if vegetarians eat fish. Driving me nuts!

i agree!!!! i get a little ticket when i see questions posted such as, "I'm a new veggie and i need good fish recipes!!!" I can't help but feel that this comes from people jumping into vegetarianism as a fad, knowing very little of what they're about to undertake. i understand that people want to be tolerant of all diets, as we should be, but let's be reasonable and use the proper names and definitions for said diets.

I have a friend who calls herself a vegetarian but eats fish, and she explains that her reason for not eating meat is that she is trying to save energy. She says that it takes a LOT of energy and land to raise and kill a cow. LOTS more energy and land than soybeans would require, for example. Same thing for any farm-raised animal. her reason for not eating farm-raised meat (and farm-raised fish as well) is that she doesn't want to waste the energy required to turn sunlight into meat. She will eat fish that has been caught from the ocean, or lakes or streams, because, at least according to her, this form of nutrition does not come a the cost of a ridiculous amount of energy.

I'm not claiming that this makes it OK to call yourself a vegetarian, just that her reasons have nothing to do with avoiding foods that once had a face.

Quite a long time ago. People become vegetarians for many reasons. Not just because "they love animals" and think its "cruel to eat something with a brain"

There are many forms of vegetarian diets. Here are two that eat fish:
Macrobiotic vegetarian-
This is mainly vegetarian but macrobiotic diets often contain seafood. All other meat products are excluded, as are eggs and dairy products. There are different levels of macrobiotic diets.

This diet is based on the Chinese principles of ying (positive) and yang (negative), and people may follow it for philiosphical or spiritual reasons.

Pescetarians/Semi/Demi-Vegetarians -
Generally follow a vegetarian based diet but eat fish.