When your host doesn't quite understand "vegetarian"

[a]

I have found that it is better to be honest. Otherwise you’re just delaying the inevitable conversation. So I’d go with what you wrote, sth like ‘I’m really looking forward to trying x, but unfortunately I’m not sure I can eat [or ‘I cannot eat’ if you’re sure about the ingredients] the y’. Just be positive, focus on what you can eat and appreciate the thought that went into cooking, even if it went wrong...

The only time I wouldn’t recommend this would be if you know for a fact you’ll never see them again/they’ll never cook for you again. On the other hand, you can help a fellow veggie by educating them...

[Zilla]

I would simply tell the host that I am a "true" vegetarian and don't eat anything dairy or animals related including chicken broth etc. 


I would then offer to bring a dish. 


I too knew a wide variety of vegetarians including pescetarians and one that insisted she was a vegetarian but ate poultry.  lol


So as a hostess, I would ask what is their favorite dish and from that I could gather what they would or wouldn't eat.

[WillyNilly]

Not to be snarky here, but I keep reading references to vegetarians not eating dead animals.  Isn't is just animals, period?

Otherwise, they can partake in live goldfish swallowing.   

Actually raw oysters and clams are not just raw, but in fact still alive, so its pretty common to eat live creatures.

[TootsNYC]

You can say, "I'm a vegetarian, I don't even eat fish," but it's sort of annoying that you have to say, "I'm a vegetarian, and even chicken broth or beef broth is a bad idea."

As for what to do in the moment, I think you just say, cheerfully, "Oh, that's too bad--chicken broth is one of the things I can't eat." And then you don't eat that food but fill up on all the other ones you can. And if they're discomfitted because you're not eating the food they prepared for you, then maybe they'll learn, and mention it to someone else, and some OTHER vegetarian will be spared the steal chicken broth.

In this situation, is it more polite to deliver a little white lie (I'm stuffed from the snacks you put out before the meal!) or to be honest and say "it looks delicious but I don't eat chicken broth"?

If you're ever going to socialize with them again, or if you want people to remember that chicken broth is definitely not vegetarian, I'd go with the latter.

I would always go with the latter, actually, unless the simple truth was that I was stuffed. Why lie when the truth is perfectly innocent and in no way insulting to your host?

I say, tell the truth! I agree, it's not in any way insulting. So just tell them.

Use your tone of voice like the powerful tool it is. Sound regretful. And then move on to whatever else is on the topic.

[Tilt Fairy]

Are those of you who are vegetarians on here vegetarians because you love animals or because you hate plants?

Plants give me hayfever. They make me seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.

[Moray]

Are those of you who are vegetarians on here vegetarians because you love animals or because you hate plants?

Plants give me hayfever. They make me seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.

I'm an omnivore because I hate everything. 

I agree with PPs that you should be polite and direct in your corrections. "Thank you for thinking of me, but I don't eat anything prepared with chicken stock/seafood/gelatin/whathaveyou. This salad is delicious, though "

[SoCalVal]

Not to be snarky here, but I keep reading references to vegetarians not eating dead animals.  Isn't it just animals, period?

Otherwise, they can partake in live goldfish swallowing.   

My understanding of the main difference between a vegetarian and an vegan is that a vegetarian will eat things produced by animals that did not kill the animal, like eggs, milk and honey, while a vegan will not eat anything that has come from an animal.

Yes, but then those are products made by animals, not the animals themselves, correct (so, not necessary to say "dead animals" when, in fact, being a vegetarian = eating zero animals)?  I'm only being specific here because the thread is discussing the specifics of being vegetarian and being vegetarian vs. being vegan (normally, I wouldn't question that a vegetarian doesn't eat animals, alive or dead, but if the thread is going to split hairs here then it really isn't necessary or appropriate to only specify "dead animals" when meaning ALL animals unless I've really missed something all these years in my understanding of what a vegetarian is).  Also, don't vegans tend to have a whole lifestyle attached to being vegan, not just eating habits but no animal products used either (e.g., no leather shoes)?

This discussion reminds me of a season of Survivor when, I believe, one of the contestants stated she's a vegan so she wouldn't eat the cow brain or whatever that was she was supposed to eat.  However, she said she could eat a worm (and did) so that always confused me how a worm didn't count as a once-living thing.