Are hotdogs sandwiches

#2
I was going to say yes. But then I looked up the definition of a sandwich, and its defined as "two pieces of bread with a filling". A hot dog bun is, in fact, one piece of bread cut in half with a filling.

HOWEVER, using a broader definition of a sandwich (like a sub which is similar to a hot dog bun in that its one piece of bread cut in half, which IS considered a sandwich) you can say that, yes, a hot dog is a sandwich.
 

spacedogmike

Well-Known Member
#5
well, kinda opened a can a worms with the whole sub thing because I call a sub a hero or a grinder, BUT thats not the matter at hand. I would agree that a hotdog is a sandwich because Merriam Webster dictionary defines it as such lol. You can split the bun in half to make it technically a sandwich, but what psycho does that
 

ChairmanMeow

Well-Known Member
#7
Well if you were to research sub, it is indubitably a type of sandwich and being that it is the most similar we can get to a hot dog, it could be very well possible that that a hot dog is a sandwich.
 
#11
Is a poptart ravioli the poptart shall decide, if not then let beauty see fit to the eye of the beholder poptart ravioli or not. This principle applies to is a hotdog sandwich the hotdog shall decide, if not then let beauty see fit to the eye of the beholder hotdog sandwich or not.
 
#14
I've given this a lot of thought. The first thing that a conscientious observer will notice as they work through this conundrum is that most definitions of the word "sandwich" are insufficient to cover the scope of even those sandwiches that are very clearly sandwiches. Let's see if we can fix this. I hope that we can all agree that there are three basic factors that can be used to determine admission into the "Sandwich Club," so to speak, and those are:
1. whether it includes "bread"
2. the filling
and most contentiously,
3. "degrees of separation"

Let's work in order. Clearly, a hotdog does include bread. But in order to form an iron-clad definition of sandwich, it's vital that we define "bread." I would define bread as a leavened wheat product. This would preclude tacos, burritos, wraps, poptarts, ravioli, and anything inbetween crackers from being considered a sandwich. Including any of those into the definition of a sandwich would be absolute anarchy, so in the pursuit of maintaining some form of order, this is a good first step.

Now, we must address the filling. The term "sandwich" is already used to refer to a great variety of fillings: vegetables, fruit spreads, condiments, and, of course, meat. Everything that could be reasonably included in a hotdog falls into one of these categories, so clearly there's no valid argument for a hotdog to be left out of the "sandwich club" on the basis of filling. But to take it one step further, I would say that any food-grade product is a valid sandwich filling, except for bread, or "leavened wheat product," as we've previously defined it.

And, finally, we come to the final stipulation, and the one around which most of the hotdog-sandwich debate is centered: degrees of separation. Many definitions of "sandwich" specifically state that sandwiches are to include two pieces of bread, but it doesn't take much brainpower to see how this definition falls short. Double-decker sandwiches include more than two pieces of bread, and yet they are still sandwiches. And, more pertinent to this particular discussion, submarine sandwiches are unanimously considered to be sandwiches, and those are formed of bread surfaces that remain connected. It is ideologically inconsistent to argue against a hotdog being a sandwich while also acknowledging that a submarine sandwich is a sandwich, as the structures of the two are identical. Conversely, to argue that a submarine sandwich is not a sandwich would be vapid. It's a slippery slope to argue that there must be two distinct pieces of bread for something to qualify as a sandwich, as that opens up the door for a hotdog or a submarine sandwich to start off as not a sandwich, but to suddenly become a sandwich in the midst of eating if the surfaces ceased to be connected. Really, with regard to sandwiches, it's less about the number of bread "pieces" and more about the degrees of separation. The structural qualification for a sandwich could be adequately posed as "multiple *surfaces* of bread with a filling inbetween."

So the true definition of a sandwich would then be "a food product comprised of multiple leavened, wheat-based surfaces with any other food grade product placed between them." I think that fairly encompasses everything that we unanimously agree to be sandwiches, while also excluding things that clearly should not be considered sandwiches (tacos, poptarts, pizza, and so on).

And under that, the most comprehensive and well-reasoned definition of "sandwich" to date, a hotdog IS, in fact, a sandwich. So far as I'm concerned, there can be no reasoned argument to the contrary. The matter is settled.
 
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