Merriam Webster picks up 'pescatarian'
Merriam-Webster added more than 100 new entries to its latest edition of the Collegiate Dictionary. Among the new foods listed, some surprised me, while others seemed long overdue.
Here are a few, with their definitions, and the year in which Merriam-Webster first found them used in an English-language publication:
Edamame (1951): immature green soybeans, usually in the pod.
Pescatarian (1993): vegetarian whose diet includes fish.
Phytonutrient (1994): bioactive, plant-derived compound (as resveratrol) associated with positive health effects.
Prosecco (1881): a dry Italian sparkling wine.
Soju (1978): a Korean vodka distilled from rice.
I was a bit surprised to see soju in there, as I don't know that it's a term in the common lexicon, while prosecco, edamame, and pescatarian seemed years overdue. The definition of pescatarian, in my mind, seems to be an oxymoron (they define a vegetarian diet as "consisting wholly of vegetables, fruits, grains, nuts, and sometimes eggs or dairy products"). Might it make more sense to define a pescatarian as someone who adheres mostly to a vegetarian diet, yet eats seafood?
I've always thought it was easier to define those with dietary restrictions by what they don't eat (vegetarians--no meat--and vegans--no meat, eggs, dairy, and sometimes honey) by what they don't eat, not, as the dictionary does, what they do eat, so maybe that's the root of the problem. But, I also think Mirriam-Webster's inclusion of lacto-ovo (and/or ovo-lacto) vegetarian, "a vegetarian whose diet includes dairy products, eggs, vegetables, fruits, grains, and nuts," is clunky and confusing.
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