New Word for Merriam-Webster: ‘Tofucken’

PETA Asks Online Dictionary to Add Popular Vegan Dish by Thanksgiving

For Immediate Release:
November 14, 2017

Contact:
Megan Wiltsie 202-483-7382

Because PETA’s “Tofucken” tutorial—in which a foul-mouthed granny demonstrates how to make the tofu/tempeh/seitan dish—has racked up more than a million views between its censored and NSFW versions, the organization sent a letter this morning asking Merriam-Webster to add tofucken to the dictionary by Thanksgiving.

Tofucken debuted in 2014, the same year that turducken was added to the dictionary—and since then, the number of vegan Americans has increased 600 percent, meaning that at least 16 million Americans now celebrate a vegan (and possibly tofucken-filled) Thanksgiving.

“Millions of Americans would rather eat tofucken than the corpse of a bird who was hung upside down and electrically shocked and whose throat was slit,” says PETA President Ingrid Newkirk. “PETA is calling on Merriam-Webster to add tofucken to the dictionary and help redefine Thanksgiving as a holiday of kindness.”

PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—has also filled out Merriam-Webster’s online application for adding new words to the dictionary.

For more information, please visit PETA.org.

PETA’s letter to Merriam-Webster follows.

November 14, 2017

Peter Sokolowski

Editor-at-Large

Merriam-Webster

Dear Mr. Sokolowski,

Greetings! Thanksgiving is coming up, and I’m writing on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and our more than 6.5 million members and supporters worldwide with a special holiday request: Please add the now widely accepted and regularly bantered-about word tofucken—an alternative to the holiday fowl dish turducken—to your online dictionary by this Thanksgiving. With your help, we can move one step closer to a world with a pronounced compassion for all animals.

I’m sure that things can get tense when you are evaluating which “real words” to add to the dictionary. Tofucken, a scrumptious block of marinated tofu stuffed with sautéed tempeh and wrapped in seitan, has become a popular holiday dish since it debuted in 2014. The demand for vegan holiday dishes like tofucken has never been higher, as millions of Americans now celebrate a meat-free Thanksgiving for environmental, religious, or health reasons or, most likely, because they know how cruel factory-farming and slaughtering turkeys, chickens, and ducks really are.

Every year in the U.S. alone, 300 million turkeys, 9 billion chickens, and 31 million ducks are killed for food—more than 45 million turkeys are killed just for Thanksgiving. In slaughterhouses, they are slammed upside down by their legs into shackles and their heads are dragged through an electrified bath while they are still fully conscious. Electric currents shoot through their bodies, causing spasms, burns, and fractures. Many are stunned improperly and are still conscious when their throats are cut and they’re immersed in scalding-hot water to remove their feathers.

Thanksgiving is about appreciation and kindness. We hope you’ll review our submission and add tofucken to the dictionary so that anyone interested in celebrating with compassion this holiday season will easily find its definition. Thank you for your consideration.

Very truly yours,

Ingrid E. Newkirk

President