Why do you need to tell people you’re vegetarian if want a meat-free breakfast?

at a guess
i don’t want what you are offering = fussy bugger, get bent.
I can’t eat what you are offering = oh you poor soul I’ll knock you up something special.

the fact that being vegie/vegan is mostly just being a fussy bugger* (just as in junkyards example, meat eaters turning their noses up at slugs and cockroaches) doesn’t seem to come into it.

*yes there are valid moral/ethical issues but veggies generally are fully able to eat and digest meat/dairy unlike lactose gluten etc intolerances

<edit> but I do agree “I’m a vegie who eats fish” should earn you a slap in the face with a wet fish. My sister tried that one, a certain amount of mockage ensued.

at a guess
i don’t want what you are offering = fussy bugger, get bent.
I can’t eat what you are offering = oh you poor soul I’ll knock you up something special.

“I don’t fancy a cooked breakfast today thanks, could I just have the continental / eggs and beans?”

Offering a meal without something is hardly “knocking up something special.” Do I have to tell them I’m a fasting Buddhist if I decide to skip breakfast completely?

i don’t want what you are offering = fussy bugger, get bent.
I can’t eat what you are offering = oh you poor soul I’ll knock you up something special.
the fact that being vegie/vegan is mostly just being a fussy bugger* (just as in junkyards example, meat eaters turning their noses up at slugs and cockroaches) doesn’t seem to come into it.

*yes there are valid moral/ethical issues but veggies generally are fully able to eat and digest meat/dairy unlike lactose gluten etc intolerances

<edit> but I do agree “I’m a vegie who eats fish” should earn you a slap in the face with a wet fish. My sister tried that one, a certain amount of mockage ensued.

in the early years of me being vegan (early 90s), even in the UK in some restaurants it could be very difficult to explain why you wanted to know if there were any animal (meat/dairy/egg) products or ingredients in a dish.
the simplest, albeit deceitful, way to get around this was to inform the staff that you were allergic to dairy/eggs/cow/pig/horse and there’s a good chance you’d die in their restaurant if they served you up egg pasta, or soup with cream in it or whatever.

cougar, again Im guessing but iirc most B&B and similar offer full english or continental (ie muesli/fruit rubbish) whoever it was who first started this (cba checking) decides they want something different so pull the faux veggie card, I can see how it would work but I’d be too busy troffing on the piggy wigs and Gallus Domesticus ovulations.

Forget about the “Veggie but eat fish” thing. Where do people stand on eggs? In my book that’s not vegetarian but many “veggie” dishes contain eggs.

Eggs are clearly animal DNA so how can these meals be classed as vegetarian?

Where do people stand on eggs?

Antarctica? I assume it’s penguins you are referring to.. 😉

if I get up in the morning and fancy a vegetarian breakfast rather than traditional English

Well if it’s listed as a veggie breakfast, in other words, same as a full-English but without all the deceased bits of animal, then by all means ask for a veggie breakfast, but beans on toast, or egg on toast, or muesli..isn’t a vegetarian breakfast, it’s just food.. You do not need to make that distinction.
As mentioned before, keeping on with this false description of what constitutes a vegetarian diet, really makes it harder for those of us who are trying to be vegetarian.
If you want toast dude, ask for toast..stop with the labels already.
🙂

Eggs are clearly animal DNA so how can these meals be classed as vegetarian?

plus all dairy. You can poke holes in most things if you look hard enough, depends on your definition of vegetarian, “I don’t eat meat” should probably cover it I’d have thought.

Eggs are clearly animal DNA so how can these meals be classed as vegetarian?

Cos the chicken doesn’t die, and the egg’s not meat.

Vegans wouldn’t eat the egg.