Etymology of the word "vegan"?
Posted by yabbitgirl on Mar 29, 2007 · Member since Apr 2006 · 14266 posts
So where did the word "vegan" come from, does anyone know? This is the sort of question that keeps me up at night. :o
Here in Spain raw foodists are known as "crudivores"...somehow that sounds like a dangerous animal.... ;D At least on 3 hrs sleep it does...
http://www.veganporn.com/1052273957.html
From Vegan Porn:
"The article also tackles the pronounciation issue, but I prefer my guidelines: vegans say "VEE-gn," omnivores say "VAY-gn." It's like a cholesterol-driven switch."
LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I always wondered why people say "VAY-gn" LOL!!!!!!! Does any one here say it that way?
i found this online, although it isn't very inventive.
vegan
1944, from vegetable (n.) + -an; coined by Donald Watson to distinguish those who abstain from all animal products (eggs, cheese, etc.) from those who merely refuse to eat the animals.
"vegan" also means someone from a town called Vega (there is one in Norway, Sweden, and Texas), but then it is pronounced "VAY-gun"
fiona
(Blushes furiously) I've always said "Vay gan" :-[ but then I speak Spanish, so e is ay. In Spanish the word is "vegano" and for some odd reason it often does not obey the gender-switch rule for adjectives, leading to phrases like "cocina vegano" which should be "cocina vegana" to be gramatically correct. However I've only ever seen it on the Net in Spanish so it could be that the people who do websites don't speak the language...
(Blushes furiously) I've always said "Vay gan" :-[ but then I speak Spanish, so e is ay.
Heehee! Totally different in your case yabbitgirl!
Hey, I noticed on another thread you mentioned you were a translator... me too! Though I'm not working now ;) Actually I haven't done any translation work since we moved from Los Angeles (home) But I miss it!!
Jennifer, oh goody--can you post me a link if you know of one that would have translations or explanations of British corporate language?? What for example is "corporate manslaughter" when it's at home? Spanish is the target language.
I've been out of the loop for far too long. I had a translating job for 2 yrs with a v. minor publishing co. and really enjoyed the work (not so much interacting with the boss) but that was nearly 4 yrs ago.
That's funny. I've always said vee-gn. What gives me pause is when people pronounce it as though it rhymes with "began," with the accent on the second syllable. As in, "vee-GAN," or vuh-GAN." Sherman Alexie, when I saw him speak, expounded upon the absurdities of "vee-GANs." I've also heard some much kinder and more well-intentioned grandmas say it this way.
I have never heard it pronounced VAY-gun before. I alwys thought it was VEE-gn. My DH husband had never heard the term "vegan" before. When he saw one of my cookbooks , he asked me if I was going to go "totally VEG-an", with a short e sound. It was cute! ;D
When I was growing up, my family pronounced it vay-gun. Now that I know how it's pronounced, I say vee-gun, but when I read something with the word vegan in it, my brain still says vay-gun to me!
Yabbitgirl-
My friend and I were just talking about British idioms. here is a link to a site with a few http://www.learn4good.com/languages/evrd_idioms/id-b.htm
But plain old corporate lingo...? I have no idea where one would find such a site! Isn't "corporate manslaughter" when a companies gross negligence causes death? So, if one were using the term at home I guess... just plain old... manslaughter?
I'm not sure I understand the question ;)
I looked up the history of the word "vegan" a couple of months ago because my vegetarian roommate (backed up by an omni roommate) insisted that I didn't know what "vegan" means because I don't know where it originated from and insisted that being vegan is not a lifestyle (including avoidance of leather, wool, silk, etc.) but just a DIET, and that I was making the whole lifestyle part up because I had no clue. Very upsetting conversation, especially when I wanted to end it and she was being an a** about it.
So I looked it up:
The word and official concept of veganism was coined by Donald Watson in the earlier parts of the 20th century. He was born and raised by a meat eating family and had an uncle with a farm, came to the conclusion that enslaving animals to give us their products is not ok (of course, he wasn't the first one to think that, but he was the first one to put a name to it, which made it the movement it is today).
His idea for the word "vegan" was that you "cut out the crap" so-to-speak and make veg-etari-an vegan. Well, really he called it the the beginning and end of vegetarian," but I like my own version of that :P
He died in 2005 at 95 years old.
Sources:
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/about_us/history/
http://www.vegansociety.com/html/about_us/Deceased.php
http://www.foodsforlife.org.uk/people/Donald-Watson-Vegan/Donald-Watson.html
Veganna--I've seen a tshirt that has on it Vegetarian: Cut out the crap
!!!! lol, coolbeans i thought.
Veganna--I've seen a tshirt that has on it Vegetarian: Cut out the crap
amazing shirt!
This is a very interesting topic for me... I'm living in France where there aren't very many of us. The French word for vegan is vegetalien. Since I have no English speaking vegan freinds I naturally used the "vaygun" pronunciation. We say Las Vegas (vaygus), no? When you shorten the word vegetarian, you still come up with a short vowel sound.....
Goodcookie, je vous aime un peu...beaucoup..passionnement! ;D
I watch a lot of TV5 so I have heard "vegetalien." I like it, it sounds elegant.
vegetalien? ... hmm, i dont know if thats really helping our cause...
I've also heard a few people say "VEDG-un", like "VEDG-tables", you know? Evidently there was once a girl working in the produce department of my store who was vegan, but pronounced it the above way... leading others to think it's said that way. Hehee.
vegetalien? ... hmm, i dont know if thats really helping our cause...
Actually, it is if you speak French. It's not about a cause, it's about linguistics.