In American culture, I’ve noticed the abbreviation ‘vet’ is used more often in reference to ‘veteran’ (someone who has served in conflict, etc), than it is to mean ‘veterinarian’. Do I have this right? Is there confusion given the two separate meanings?
Comments
There’s no confusion thanks to the magic of context clues.
Context is important
Without any context, I’d assume ‘veteran’. But it’s not like there are too many scenarios where the two will get mixed up – if I say “I’m going to bring my dog to the vet”, I’d imagine most people would assume I meant veterinarian, and similarly if we’re talking about vets in a parade it would probably be surprising to see a whole bunch of animal docs (though I imagine someone has done this at least once for the pun).
Context eliminates confusion. You don’t take your dog to the retired army dude for shots. Unless that dude is also an animal doctor, of course.
Couldn’t really say which use is more common – guessing it varies by location and animal ownership.
Context clues are what lead to the interpretation.
I would say they’re are used about evenly. The context will make it obvious nearly always but I’m sure there have been confusion before.
Usually one can suss out the correctly intended meaning by context, BUT the whole vet(eran) vs. vet(erinarian) thing has been the basis of a LOT of lame jokes.
You might hear it used to mean veterans more often just because veterans tend to be in the news more than veterinarians, but I wouldn’t say one is used more commonly than the other in their own contexts.
I definitely use the word “vet” to mean “veterinarian” more often than I use it for “veteran”.
Which word “vet” is being used for is something that is easy enough to figure out from context clues. I find that people tend to use the full words when there might be some confusion.
Both are used. You’ll understand which one is which based on context.
As everyone said: context clues! If you heard someone say they are taking their cat to the vet, I find it unlikely your first assumption would be a veteran.
Context is key. There are many more opportunities to hear vet as veterans in the daily dose of media than there is for people talking about veterinarians. But if you hear Vet Tech then it’s an assistant to a veterinarian. Likewise if someone mentions a pet needing medical attention, “I need to take my cat to the vet.” But unless it’s mentioning Vets like as a group or something I actually rarely hear Vet a lot, unless it’s specific, “he’s a war vet. ” “Vietnam Vet”, a charity AmVets, etc. People actually often say veterans, maybe as often as veterinarians.
No confusion because context clues. “I took my dog to the vet” vs “her dad’s a Vietnam vet”.
We use context to vet meaning.
Honestly, at least in my experience/circle vet is usually referring to the veterinarian. “And Ginger goes to the vet on Tuesday.”
My dad is a Vietnam veteran and usually just says “veteran”.
We generally use Vet for both. I have never heard the meaning mixed up before. Context is usually more than enough.
My dog’s vet is an Air Force vet.
You are 100 % right it based on context clues which I could imagine being confusing for someone from another country even if a native speaker of English.
It all has to do with the context of the message.
You would never say you took your cat to the vet to mean a veteran, so everyone would know it was a veterinarian.
If you stated that you were talking to a vet about their time in service, then people would know that you’re talking about a veteran.
CONTEXT, CONTEXT, CONTEXT
How dumb do you have to be to think that “taking my dog to the vet” means you’re taking them to be seen by someone who was previously in the armed forces?
Lots of words in English have multiple meanings. Vet can also mean to investigate someone, usually their background, to make sure they are qualified for a role. So as everyone is saying, you have to use context and usage to determine the meaning, and ask questions if it’s still not clear. And, of course, there are words that Americans use that speakers of English from other countries use entirely differently, that can often be comical.
They are used the same and no conflict. It’s understood in terms of context of the sentence/what you’re talking about
Most of the time it’s not confusing because the context clues will make it obvious which one is being spoken about.
The only time it wouldn’t is if you describing someone’s occupation or their career, like “My brother is a _”. In that case saying “vet” would not be clarifying, so people would say veteran or veterinarian.
But even then, context clues sometimes help. If you’re taking about the military and someone says “My brother is a vet” then you can assume they mean veteran. If you were talking about animals, and then they said “My brother is a vet”, you can assume they mean veterinarian.
To add even more confusion to the use of vet. People will often call a Chevy Corvette a Vette, and as a verb meaning to appraise.
Taking my Vette out for a spin.
Let me vet the new hire candidates before you interview them.
It’s all context. If anything, in my experience, people use “vet” to mean veterinarian, and will more often say “veteran”.
As a kid, I wanted to be a vet, and for some unknown reasons, a couple adults thought I meant veteran. Which, is very confusing ’cause I was a small girl, definitely not the image of a soldier. And no one ever wants to be a “veteran.” It’s always “be a marine” or “an airforce pilot” or “join the army.” So, I’m still baffled by the fact multiple people were confused.
Besides those incidents, context allows one to figure out which vet a person is referring to. Though, myself, I more often than not refer to veterans with the whole word.
Context lets us know which one is being referenced.
My vet is a vet = my veterinarian is a veteran. Easy peasy.
Both meanings are used regularly. You rely on context to tell which version is meant (just like any other word that has multiple definitions). In any case where there might be some confusion, the shortened word can be expanded to the long version.
Also, a fun anecdote. My sister is about a month out from completing veterinary school and her husband is former Navy. They are a vet and a vet married to each other, but the two different versions of “vet.”
I find this sort of a funny question because Mandarin Chinese has full sentences composed of the only the word “shi”
Context is everything
Most people outside the US are too stupid to understand “context” (see the Heritage vs. Nationality debate that the yuropean brain can not seem to grasp), so we can at least try to understand the confusion.