Is there a special word for a "vegetarian" who eats fish?

Question

I have a couple of friends who don't eat meat, but eat fish. They call themselves "vegetarian" but know that strictly speaking this is incorrect. Is there a word in the English language to describe non-meat eaters?

Answer 1

Vegetarians do not eat animals.
Fish are animals.
Therefore, vegetarians do not eat fish.

Sorry. There are some who pretend there is a word. But vegetarians do not, under any circumstances, eat animals.

Don't get me wrong, it is great that they have cut so many other animals out of their diets, but they are still animal/meat eaters.

With time, they might even realize they can drop the fishes from their diets and become vegetarians.

EDIT- To answer your question:
As "vegetarian" describes one who only eats vegetation, a "pescatarian" would describe one who only eats fish.
And because a vegetarian does not eat animals, we can not use "vegetarian" as the base-word for this name.
Your friends,if they required a name, would (grammatically speaking) be
ovo-lacto-vego- pescatarians
(assuming they eat veggies, grains, eggs and milk)

Answer 2

Im a vegetarian :) I do not eat fish or chicken.. They are animals. If you eat animals, your not a vegetarian. Some people eat fish or chicken and claim they are vegetarians but they actually are not vegetarians. Vegetarians can eat eggs, milk, and cheese only.. but they cannot eat any type of dead animal .. vegans cannot eat eggs, milk, cheese.. If it has eyes, dont eat it basically It is not a trend, some people think its gross eating meat.. my mom was a bikini model so she had to keep her body in shape to get paid and she wouldnt eat meat so i was raised on a full vegetarian diet and think eating meat is nasty but honestly, it might piss off people who are vegetarians

Answer 3

there is nothing "strictly speaking " about this Chris.

They are not vegetarian. full stop. No need to apply any caveats or modifiers such as "strictly".

Why are they even using the word vegetarian ?

tell them to sort themselves out. Anyone who regularly posts or reads here will know these people cause chaos amongst vegetarians.

The internationaly acepted definition for a vegetarian is "someone who does not eat meat, fish, poultry or slaughter by-products" There is no room in the definition for your friends to even contemplate using the word vegetarian.

Answer 4

No, i don't understand people at times, vegetarians DON'T eat any animals what so ever, so how can people call themselves VEGETARIANS, when they eat fish!!! They were once living animals!!! And all this stuff about different sorts of veggies dat eat fish and other animal products is a load of rubbish. VEGETARIANS eat no animals!!!
I'd be embarrassed to call myself a veggie, knowing i ate fish
Im a veggie and don't eat any form of animal, Now that's what a real veggie is

Answer 5

Someone who does eat fish but no other meat or meat by products would be called a pescetarian. A pescetarian is not a vegetarian though.

Answer 6

hey there chris great question i think!! great answers anyway, the social commentator and compassionate foxhunter pc type os to be least considered perhaps.. however those pesky-tarians [ha ha] may be reminded of the old addadge to abstain from .fish-flesh or fowl' but you know if you've got mates over etc. good luck

Answer 7

They are called pescatarians, but it is not a form of vegetarianism. A fish is an animal, and vegetarians don't eat animals.

Answer 8

This is a hard question for an actual vegetarian to answer.

"Pesco-vegetarian" implies that it's a type of vegetarianism, and that's bad.
"Pescetarian" works.
"I don't eat any meat except fish" also works, but it isn't exactly what you asked for.
"Pescavore" sounds silly and isn't technically accurate.

I guess if you need a word, use "pescatarian".

Answer 9

I think the appropriate word for someone who eats fish is carnivore. Eating fish is dangerous because all fish have mercury in them. That's poisonous.

Answer 10

Pescetarian.

Also to the person (Fox hunter - name says it all) who says you 'need' to eat fish for a healthly diet - that's inaccurate - you 'need' to eat foods with essential fatty acids and though fish contain these, so do nuts and seeds. Farmed fish are particuraly high in saturated fats because of their lack of exercise.