Über Takes Have a take
Food · Structural engineering · Take No. 011

Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Meat, inside bread, held in the hand. The dictionary says yes. Every person who has ever ordered one says no. Someone has to decide.

The case for each side, then the verdict. Then the floor is yours.
The case for

Yes, by definition

The case for the dictionary

  • 1Definition, Merriam-Webster: filling between slices of bread or a split roll. A hot dog bun is a split roll.
  • USDAClassifies a hot dog on a bun as a sandwich for regulatory purposes. The government has taken a side.
  • NYNew York state tax law calls it a sandwich too, which is why it's taxed like one.
vs
The case for

No, it's its own thing

The case for common sense

  • 0People in human history who have said 'I'd like a sandwich' and meant a hot dog.
  • 1Hinge. The bun isn't two slices; it's one piece of bread with a fold. Different object, different rules.
  • Hot dogHas its own name, its own stands, its own eating contest. Things with their own category aren't in another category.

Cast your take

——
The verdict

It's No. The dictionary is right and it still doesn't matter.

Technically, the yes side wins. Filling, bread, hand: that's a sandwich, and the government agrees. If this were a court case it'd be over.

But language is what people do with it, and nobody has ever meant a hot dog when they said sandwich. A hot dog is a hot dog, a taco is a taco, and a sandwich is what you ask for when you want a sandwich. No, with the dictionary's grudging permission.

Disagree? That's what the buttons are for.

Next on the docket

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