It just doesn't fit with how we seem to most often use words in foods et al, e.g: We call it 'egg substitute' or 'krab' when the thing is not the thing.
The only outlier I can think of here is things like 'Root Beer' and 'Ginger Ale' and we know why those are that way.
There are plenty of names of foods that do not at all describe the actual ingredients in them, and people get along just fine. Nobody believes almonds have tiny mammary glands that are being milked. As long as you clearly label the source ingredient (almond, soy, oat, etc.) for reasons of preference and allergens, nobody's getting confused here.
I guess where I would respond though is: Most of what you're talking about are singular rare-ish exceptions. We're talking about a very common staple here (which means, yes, there will be confusion of some sort, perhaps in baking?)
I think my reasoning here is, we're not calling margarine "plant butter," we're not talking about "tapioca/potato eggs" (had to look that one up.)
Overall, even, I feel like things would go smoother if we used some other word, e.g. I know "Silk" is trademarked, but something along those lines.
I know people that just call this "butter" so idk if i follow. Also no one complains about "Peanut Butter" being not butter :)
(edit: see below, attested for many centuries -- 'milk' as non-animal milks.)
Botere of almand melk. Tak þikke almound melk & boyle it, & as it boyleth cast yn a litel wyn or vynegre, & þan do it on a caneuas & lat þe whey renne out. & þan gadere it vp with þyn hondes & hang it vp a myle wey, & ley it after in cold water, & serue it forth.
The word milk in general could refer to any dairy-like liquid though. According to [2] that usage is attested from as early as ~1200.
[1] https://historydollop.com/2016/11/09/almond-milk-the-medieva...
Almond milk seems to have shown up by the 12th century, but Old English was mostly dying by then.
> Of milk-like plant juices or saps from c. 1200.
Nut/Seed drinks are not milks. They're just as much milk as coffee is tea and apple juice is vodka.
It's absolute nonsense to call it milk, just because some "clever" marketing department somewhere decided to name it such in an effort to peddle their product more effectively.
You brew coffee and you brew tea. Tea is plant products brewed in hot water, and coffee is... a plant product in hot water?
We call all sorts of soups soup even though they contain different ingredients, so why not Milk?
Because soup is any kind of liquid food. If you had made a soup that was made entirely of Milk, it would simply still be soup.
Milk is specifically produced by mammary glands of...a mammal.
Not sure why I have to explain how words and definitions work on HN, but there it is.