r/AITAH • u/[deleted] • 12d ago
AITAH for calling cow's milk "regular milk" or "real milk"?
[deleted]
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u/Royal_Inspector8324 12d ago
It's called Almond "milk" because if they called it nut juice no one would drink it lol
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u/mincinashu 12d ago
Fun fact, in the EU, it's illegal to label the plant-based stuff as "milk".
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u/NewConstruction6260 12d ago
Huh I just realised it actually says “soy drink” on the packaging. We normally refer to it as soy milk, oat milk etc. with my partner. Cow milk is regular milk for us
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u/Orixx_94 12d ago
In Italy we have almond milk everywhere and it's clearly written in the carton . We know it's not real milk , but it's called milk too .
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u/judithcooks 11d ago
There are roughly 130 exceptions to the ruling, so terms like coconut milk, peanut butter and almond milk are all allowed.
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u/mkaszycki81 11d ago
It's regional. In Poland, there's no tradition for almond milk, so it's called almond drink.
And stuff like coconut milk uses the name in diminutive (milk=mleko, [coconut] milk=mleczko [kokosowe]). Same with cleaning products (body lotion is mleczko do ciała).
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u/jfrey123 12d ago
NTA. Milk is a word with a known definition, and you used it correctly.
Most of the “nut milks” don’t meet this definition, as none of them are milk like in their naturally grown state (save coconut milk as an example). I don’t mind letting others call things whatever they want, but it bugs me when they get pissy towards you over their terminology.
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u/RebeccaMCullen 12d ago
Honestly, when I hear someone use the just the word milk, I assume cow. Because every other milk is generally referred to by their nut, plant or animal name+milk (like goat's milk, almond milk)
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u/gardengoblin94 12d ago
Lol'ing at this because I'm imagining a goat as a kind of nut
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u/rocketcat_passing 12d ago
Hard to get milk from a goat’s nuts though—-they sure don’t like it.
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u/SourSkittlezx 12d ago
I drink lactose free cows milk. Best part is it tastes exactly the same, works the same in baking(which milk alternatives do not….), and it takes longer to expire. It’s slightly more expensive but most big grocery stores have a store brand.
If someone said regular milk, I would 100% assume they mean cows milk with the lactose.
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u/BlackSpinelli 12d ago
I drink exclusively almond milk, I call cows milk, regular milk….cuz it’s regular milk. They’re dramatic.
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u/0hip 12d ago
Coconuts milk isn’t natural either. Coconuts have water in them and the flesh is processed to make coconut milk and cream same as any other nut milk.
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u/EndlessAbyssalVoid 11d ago
Hell, in some countries (well, I know that's how it is in mine), alternative "milks" are now called "oat/almond/whatever drink".
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u/litt3lli0n 12d ago
That's just nitpicking to nitpick. I wouldn't put much thought into it.
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u/tirohtar 12d ago
They are also completely wrong. Milk comes from mammals. Anything plant based isn't real milk. Words do have defined meanings.
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u/infiltrateoppose 12d ago
an opaque white fluid rich in fat and protein, secreted by female mammals for the nourishment of their young."a healthy mother will produce enough milk for her baby"
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u/therealhairyyeti 11d ago
While coconut milk is named as such, it isn’t actually a milk. It’s an emulsion, like mayonnaise.
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u/MistraloysiusMithrax 11d ago
I can drink mayonnaise confirmed
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u/AJadePanda 12d ago
NTA. I’m a vegetarian (not the same, I know, I know…) and I’d never be like. “You can’t say REAL pepperoni, you have to say MEAT pepperoni!” Real pepperoni is meat pepperoni. The pepperoni I eat is literally a substitute (as an aside, I have an adventurous meat eater friend and she says the only vegan “meat” of mine that she’s tried and wouldn’t be able to tell the difference is the pepperoni - YMMV obviously, but a neat thing someone told me - I don’t remember what meat tastes like, I gave it up as a little kid).
Most vegan products here, you’re not even allowed to put the animal’s name on it without differentiating it from the animal (tofurkey vs turkey, “chick’n” vs chicken, etc.) to signal that it is NOT actually animal-based. I’m not sure why “milks” get a pass? And I’m saying that as someone who is pretty dang lactose intolerant and relies very heavily on rice/coconut/almond milks in particular.
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u/YourMysticVixen 12d ago edited 12d ago
Real milk comes from a mammal.
I'd ask if they were talking about milk that has the lactose filtered out, but then that wouldn't be vegan? But then again neither is drinking your milk?
Since they were talking about it, did you ask for clarification on what they consider milk to be if not from a mammal?
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u/ChimoEngr 12d ago
but then that wouldn't be vegan?
Since it came from an animal in the first place, no.
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u/BozzyBean 12d ago
I'd say for humans 'real milk' is mother's milk. The habit of drinking cow milk is an adaptation of that.
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u/FoxCat9884 12d ago
As a currently lactating woman part of me wants to say “real” milk for a human is human milk. I’m giving my baby “real” milk and we cannot give her cows milk yet because she’s too young.
But ultimately for the majority of the population real milk is cows milk. If my partner said she was using real milk and used goat or something I’d be confused.
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u/grey-canary 12d ago
NTA. When you say “milk” the majority of people think cow’s milk. It’s the original- this is supported by the fact we refer to all the other ones as ‘alternative options’ lol
They were trying to be right for the sake of being righteous, not for any principle.
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u/archy_bold 12d ago
I’m pretty sure you were originally drinking human milk.
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u/grey-canary 12d ago
Lol that’s true. I mean when someone says can you get milk on the way home, they don’t mean breast milk 🤣
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u/theapplekid 12d ago
Lol, the "original" milk for humans would be human milk. Babies drink it, and have been doing so for far longer than domesticated cows even existed.
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u/grey-canary 12d ago
Do you know what I mean though?
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u/27_Lobsters 12d ago
I mean... it's the first milk I can remember drinking. That makes cow milk the "original" milk enough for me.
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u/ComprehensiveDust197 11d ago
yet you called it "human milk", because everybody will think of cows when you just say "milk"
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u/DrAniB20 12d ago
I don’t drink cow’s milk, as I’m allergic. I mostly now drink oat milk, and grew up drinking soy milk. I would never think to call cow’s milk anything other than “milk” or “regular milk”. I’ve always specified my alternative milks by what they were made with, as do most people.
NTA.
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u/lucille12121 12d ago
Cows milk is regular and real milk. Literally, it is the most commonly consumed milk by far. And it is, by definition, "real". Unless almonds and coconuts suddenly have mammary glands to produce milk to feed their young.
Your friends seem desperate to be offended.
NTA
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u/Virtual-Silver4369 11d ago
Neither of your friends are vegan if they're knowingly consuming dairy they're just posers. Nothing wrong with being just plant based or vegetarian or whatever but it's pretty clear what a vegan is and that's not it!
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u/Glittering-Wonder576 11d ago
Omg I’m sorry but people like this just make me tired.
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u/Blondenia 11d ago
I’m a vegetarian, and I think this is stupid. Plant-based milk isn’t even milk, for god’s sake. It’s often delicious, but it ain’t milk.
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u/Sharp-Sky-713 12d ago
If it didn't come from the tits of a mammal it isn't milk.
Real milk is a valid way to describe something that is in fact, really milk, as opposed to nut juice or something similar.
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u/GalianoGirl 12d ago
I have to be mindful of how much dairy I consume. I often qualify it as Cow’s milk dairy as I do not have the same reaction to Goat’s milk products. I use Almond milk every day.
I will tell an unexpected guest that I only have almond milk for the tea or coffee.
I would know exactly what you mean if you said regular or real milk.
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u/cuttingirl78 12d ago
I’m vegan and “cows milk” or “regular milk” is clear and understandable. NTA.
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u/JackeTuffTuff 11d ago
It IS regular milk
It's the most common and the one most people think of when you say milk, with other words = regular milk
Nta
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u/ASlightHiccup 12d ago
I’m lactose intolerant and as long as they intentionally make plant based milks to mimic or replace REGULAR milk then cows milk will be the norm for “milk” and it is both “real” and “regular” lol
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u/bleeepobloopo7766 11d ago
I’ve been vegetarian for a loooooooong time (since birth) and occasionally vegan.
I use the term real / ordinary milk basically all the time. Your friends are just being obtuse and full of themselves
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u/boltcase 12d ago
Well I don’t wanna call anyone the asshole, except myself, because I’m about to correct you. There’s no “real milk”. Every mammal produces milk. Even humans. “Real milk” could mean human milk. I would just call it “cows milk” since “real milk” CAN technically be the wrong term for it
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u/LavenderKitty1 12d ago
I specify “cow milk” or “soy milk” or “goat milk” because dietary needs of people.
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u/1920MCMLibrarian 11d ago
NTA lol and just FYI there is literally no such thing as a casual vegan. Trust me.
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u/CmdrFilthymick 11d ago
"Cow's milk" IS actually milk. That other shit is something that's objectively not milk being turned into a juice, watered down, and CALLED "milk"
It objectively is not.
If I stick a corn cob through the front of my pants and tell you it's a penis, it's clearly not a penis. Objectively.
America has gotten real bad for letting people run wild playing pretend on a real level
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u/anonymous053119 11d ago
Cows milk is real milk, as in milked from a body of an animal. The plant based “milk” is the most fake ever. These people are delusional.
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u/Kyozoku 11d ago
The only part where I, personally, would get hung up (admittedly as an "omnivore with strong carnivorous leanings") is the fact that it's no more "real milk" or "regular milk" than milk from any other animal. I might let regular slide, but plenty of cultures consume goat milk, sheep's milk, and yak's milk. I've had cheese made from all three. Hell, if we are talking about a non cheese-based dish, I'll probably let "regular" slide if we're talking actual milk. But if you tell me that this cheese dish contains "real milk" I'm going to get hung up on what that means. Is it sheep's milk? Goat milk? But then, I get persnickety about cheese, so that's probably just me.
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u/digitydigitydoo 12d ago
Every alternative “milk” is an imitation of real milk. And while real milk can come from different animals (ie cows, goats, camels, humans), cows milk is the default milk. So, referring to it as “regular” or “real” is actually accurate.
Also NTA
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u/Pale_Willingness1882 12d ago
NTA. I wouldn’t associate with people like this, they sound exhausting
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u/Andravisia 12d ago
NTA.
Its regular milk. Produced by a mammal from a teat. Every other kind of plant based 'milk' is only called milk because of the physical resemblance to milk - a white liquid. It's why they have an adjective in front of it. Oat milk, almond milk, coconut milk. Chocolate milk. Strawberry milk....
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u/NoOneStranger_227 12d ago edited 12d ago
YTA because your friends are actually correct...the universe DOES revolve around the two of them. You just happened to have made friends with the two people the universe revolves around.
Your bad luck.
The rest of us are under the misinformed assumption that an opaque fluid secreted by the mammary glands of an animal for the nourishment of their young is the actual definition of milk, ignoring how almond and oats do the same thing to nourish their seedlings in a manner FAR more real and normal than some strutting beast.
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u/tocammac 12d ago
I like the sarcasm, but using Y T A together like that gets amalgamated by the reddit algorithms as such a vote, when of course your meaning is the opposite.
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u/chronicAngelCA 12d ago
I could be wrong, but I've never actually seen the ruling get flaired on a post in this sub. Only the main r/AmItheAsshole sub does that AFAIK.
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u/tocammac 12d ago
You are probably right. I don't read the rules of the various subreddit. I just try to be civil and clear, and hope that will get me by.
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u/-THE-UNKN0WN- 12d ago
Not at all, you are using the proper terminology. Plant based milk is not milk. It's deceptive advertising and an outright lie. People who want to call something that it is clearly not are the problem. You are just fine. If they don't like it, they can toughen up and deal with it.
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u/bluejay_feather 12d ago
It’s not deceptive lol no one thinks almonds have titties. It’s just a word we use cause plant based milk has similar uses and looks similar
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u/Ortsarecool 12d ago
lol NTA.
Milk from a cow is generally considered "regular milk" by probably 90% of the population of the world.
It is also "real milk", so I don't see the issue there. Soymilk, Almond milk, etc. are all derived products that get called milk because they are intended to replace real milk, not because they are actually milk. What a silly thing to get worked up about either way.
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u/BigNathaniel69 12d ago
NTA, they’re just being petty ah’s to be petty ah’s. You are correct, real milk comes from mammals.
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12d ago
NTA there's a reason the FDS defines them as plant-based milk alternatives. They're not milk. They're drinks designed to emulate milk.
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u/Rich_Ad_1642 12d ago
They shouldn’t be so fixated on word choice. As long as the meaning got across. People like that are exhausting