Vegan Language
(words, expressions, etc.)
(This document has migrated
from the earlier file: Veg Language N Vernacular N Vocabulation N Instant
inspiraio )
Here’s
to new beginnings! Let us actively pursue the improvement of the languages that
we use to communicate our ideas, to articulate our feelings, and to accurately
depict our lives.
Instead
of passively using the languages we’ve been taught, let us take the opportunity
and responsibility for improving the actual expressions by which we
communicate.
Here
we will evolve and develop our languages to integrate respect for all who live.
Instead of passively accepting the entrenchment of the idea of human dominance
over the less developed species of our world, transfused by language, we intend
to author our own thoughts, to develop our optimal selves, and help enable
others to as well.
Until it can be improved, here is a current means, to actively evolving our languages to reflect and promote a vegan world perspective. The active, vegan-minded, language-evolving community can exemplify and inspire a waking into “language-consciousness” as we endeavor to understand the cultural history, logic and etymology that forms our language. Understanding the language we use is much like reading the list of ingredients on a food label. Only when you are aware of those things, which you suspect as faulty, can you make an informed decision about whether or not you’ll use them. What we use, eat and do, contribute to who we are. We should at least know what that is. Only then can we go beyond, and try to choose benevolence.
One
way to accept a word into your life is to “Add” it, when you spell-check a
document, and it tells you that it’s not a word, or not spelled correctly. In
MS Word, put the cursor at the end of the word that is underlined, and push F7
(Ones we can and should use,
to extend our consistent strive for a more vegan world)
Examples
vegan, – one who abstains
from using animals or insects. This word is a derivative of vegetarian, which
abbreviates both the word and meaning, to embody a more effective energy. It
starts with vegetarianism, and takes it to its conclusion, to respect all the
living, and defining it that way. (For more information on this word, see
Donald Watson interviews, on the Vegan History page. Also, vegans, veganism,
veganity, veganness, veganosity, veganocity
veginning; -- abbreviates and means “vegan beginnings” ( =
vegan + beginnings, pronounced vee”ginn’ings’)
also,
Veginning (capitalized) is the formally recognized time, or kickoff celebration,
which is the beginning of ones (final, and lasting) commitment to a vegan
life-standard. Also, veginnings, veginning’s; veginnings’
i.e.
“Here’s to new veginnings!” or “In the veginnings of his search to find whether
others shared his passion for a plant-based diet, even Donald Watson was met
with some dissident opinions.”
“Have
you been vegan very long?” “Nope. My Veginning was only 6 months ago.”
Veganniversary – The
Anniversary of one’s Veginning.
Thanks4NotGvingUp – (T4) A
vegan alternative to Thanksgiving, which celebrates not giving up to the annual
American holiday pressure of eating Turkeys, and other animals and animal
products. If you practice at it, you can say the “4 not” and “up” quieter and quicker than the “Thanks” and
“Giving” parts, and it’ll sound almost just like the “norm” when people say
“Happy Thanksgiving.” To abbreviate, we could say T4, or “Happy T4.”
(it would be nice to come up
with popular sensible alternatives to these)
“Giving
someone the cold shoulder,” is possibly derived from when guests would
overstay their welcome, hosts would feed them the worst part of the animal, and
as opposed to something good and warm to eat, give them the cold shoulder.
(Accessed
020327 115a, from http://www.rootsweb.com/~genepool/sayings.htm,)
Honeymoon: It was the accepted
practice in Babylonia 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the
bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink.
Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period
was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the
"honeymoon".
(Accessed
050225 418a, from http://www.big-boys.com/joke.asp?ID=1503.)
“Something
is a little fishy”
Instant
inspiration 020327 112a
Vegans
should work on their own language, integrating respect for animals.
Instead
of treating animals as has most of the world, for most of history, we can
revise and update our use of language to include the respect for all living
things. (yeah, I meant “things”)
The
thing is, veg heads improve their esteem by thinking and acting on every level
to pursue progressive ethics.
If
people knew the history of the language, it would sound ignorant or
hypocritical for a vegan to say “I really gave her the cold shoulder,” even if
it is now colloquial.
The
coolest part of time is that you can always critique the past in attempts to
improve and correct the future.
Rather, if need be, we might evolve our language and come up with another idiom.