What the Word 'Vegan' Really Means

[Vegan Joe]

http://www.opposingviews.com/articles/opinion-what-the-word-vegan-really-means-r-1255895670

 

There is a great deal of discussion about what “vegan” means.

 

“Veganism” means at the very least not eating any flesh, dairy, or other animal products. In this sense, “vegan” means “vegan diet.” Different people may have different reasons–ethical/spiritual, health, environmental–for eating a vegan diet. Those who pursue a vegan diet may also, and for various reasons, eschew the use of other animal products in contexts beyond diet.

 

For example, someone who pursues a vegan diet may also not wear animal products on her skin for health reasons–products applied to the skin get into the body. Someone who pursues a vegan diet for environmental reasons may also not wear a particular animal product because of the effect on the environment of the production of the product.

 

Those who pursue veganism for ethical/spiritual reasons may also fall into different groups. Some ethical vegans see their veganism as a way of reducing animal suffering. That is, they

[beforewisdom]

Donald Watson and his wife coined the term only 60 something years ago. Here is a copy of the newsletter of the then breakaway Vegan Society (breaking away from the Vegetarian Society ) defining it:

 

http://beforewisdom.com/veg/archive/watsonStartVeganism.pdf

[Addai]

I thought that was a really well put article. As to the man who coined the term, it's irrelevant (ducks flying objects). Original meanings have no worth to present day strictly within the context of what it means to people. All words meanings change over time, and often very rapidly. Most dictionaries are years behind, perpetually struggling to keep up. You can find enormous lists of words that have changed remarkably in the last hundred years, and even in the last 50. Even sooner than that. People will always look for words to fit a purpose, often times misusing them, and with that their meaning inherently changes. Vegan has been used in so many new ways over the last six decades now, that it's meaning has inherently changed, branched off, and come to be a far more dynamic term.

 

A+ article.

[Ducati]

I thought that was a really well put article. As to the man who coined the term, it's irrelevant (ducks flying objects). Original meanings have no worth to present day strictly within the context of what it means to people. All words meanings change over time, and often very rapidly. Most dictionaries are years behind, perpetually struggling to keep up. You can find enormous lists of words that have changed remarkably in the last hundred years, and even in the last 50. Even sooner than that. People will always look for words to fit a purpose, often times misusing them, and with that their meaning inherently changes. Vegan has been used in so many new ways over the last six decades now, that it's meaning has inherently changed, branched off, and come to be a far more dynamic term.

 

A+ article.

 

And yet you argued over the meaning of Et Si Omnes Ego Non.

[Addai]

I thought that was a really well put article. As to the man who coined the term, it's irrelevant (ducks flying objects). Original meanings have no worth to present day strictly within the context of what it means to people. All words meanings change over time, and often very rapidly. Most dictionaries are years behind, perpetually struggling to keep up. You can find enormous lists of words that have changed remarkably in the last hundred years, and even in the last 50. Even sooner than that. People will always look for words to fit a purpose, often times misusing them, and with that their meaning inherently changes. Vegan has been used in so many new ways over the last six decades now, that it's meaning has inherently changed, branched off, and come to be a far more dynamic term.

 

A+ article.

 

And yet you argued over the meaning of Et Si Omnes Ego Non.

 

Completely different. That's not a term, it's a sentence. It reads today exactly the same it did two thousand years ago. It's a constant. Etymology is not.