8

If someone hates salad, and mostly eats meat, they basically are the opposite of vegetarians. What do you call those people in English? I guess there is no such a thing as meatarian.

Improve this question
2
  • 2
    You're right that meatatarian is not a "real word" per se, but it turns out that English speakers actually do sometimes use it in informal settings, usually in a kind of joking way. "I love burgers. You could call me a meatatarian."
    – Daniel
    Commented Jul 12, 2013 at 16:02
  • 4
    Nobody who eats exclusively meat survives long enough for us to name them.
    – Tyler James Young
    Commented Aug 23, 2013 at 21:27

3 Answers 3

Reset to default
7

Carnivore, herbivore and omnivore are technical terms drawn from biology, not used in ordinary discourse except for humorous effect.

The most usual colloquial term appears to be meat-eater; it is employed by vegetarians and meat-eaters alike with neither less or more opprobrium than is inherent in the speaker's personal stance. Here are some sample titles from Google:

Vegan vs. Meat Eater - Steven Rinella - YouTube
Healthy Vegetarian Recipes That Satisfy Even Die-Hard Meat Eaters ...
Veganism for the Meat Eater
Going From Vegetarian to Meat-Eating

Note, however, that being a meat-eater does not imply that one "hates salad" or is in any way opposed to the consumption of vegetables. It signifies one who eats meat, not one who eats meat exclusively. I don't think there is a term for that, probably because there must be very few people who consume only animal products.

Improve this answer
0
6

Carnivore is the noun used for any animal that eats meat, while omnivore is used for an animal or a person that eats plants and meat.
Although carnivore is generally used to mean an obligate carnivore (animals whose metabolism is not able to synthesize nutrients from vegetal matter), you could jokingly say you are a carnivore to mean you don't eat vegetables.

To be more clear, vegetarian means "a person that doesn't eat meat or fish" because that is a decision that person made, while carnivore doesn't imply any choice. Animals don't decide to be carnivore or herbivore, in the same way human beings are omnivore without having done any choice.

Improve this answer
5
  • 4
    You wouldn't use the word vegetarian to describe an animal that only eats vegetation (they're called herbivores). Vegetarian is a dietary term used to express a preference or a belief system for people who do not eat meat. I don't believe there is a dietary term for "I don't like salad," so saying "I'm a carnivore" would not provide the correct context for what the user is asking. The humor is not lost on me... as long as the author understands this is not actually a valid answer in the context they are asking.
    – Robert Cartaino
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 20:09
  • kiam, so if "Carnivore is the noun used for any animal that eats meat," are dogfishes "carnivores"?
    – user114
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 20:57
  • @RobertCartaino That's right, since human beings are all omnivore, whatever they decide not to eat meat, or not to eat vegetals. I explained the meaning of carnivore for that reason; it's not the word that means "I prefer to eat only meat," but it is surely understood, even if I would not use it in a formal context.
    – avpaderno
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 21:05
  • @Carlo_R. As long as they don't synthesize nutrients from vegetal matter, they are carnivore.
    – avpaderno
    Commented Jul 11, 2013 at 21:16
  • Yes, "carnivore" is a technical term in biology referring to animals that exclusively eat meat. (Whether they are physically incapable of digesting vegetable matter is a more complex question. There are reported cases of carnivorous animals being fed a vegetarian diet and surviving quite well. But regardless, they normally actually do exclusively eat meat.) But the word has come to be used to describe human beings who are not vegetarians. This is only "wrong" in the sense that for any word with multiple definitions, one or more may not be applicable to a particular usage.
    – Jay
    Commented Jul 12, 2013 at 14:09
1

Non-vegetarian- a person who eats meat, fish, eggs, etc

Improve this answer
1
  • It probably means fixate is not as common as fixated. I think that the OLD bases its content on frequency of use. If not, it has some other criteria. Whatever it is, it still seems debatable, as I've probably used fixative less than ten times, but used fixate dozens. But you can 'guess' at a verb (fixate) means if you have the meaning of the participle (fixated).
    – user6951
    Commented Apr 4, 2015 at 19:56

You must log in to answer this question.