Is a hotdog a sandwich?

“To be, or not to be” is the opening phrase of Prince Hamlet in Act 3 Scene 1 in William Shakespeare’s play, “Hamlet.” In the scene, the prince contemplates the thin line he walks between life and death, acknowledging that his life is a horrendous experience, but death may be just as bad. Just as the prince decided to live or die, a hotdog must decide whether it is or is not a sandwich. 

The dictionary definition of a sandwich is “a partially slit bread roll, pita, etc., with a filling.” In this case, the partially slit bread roll is the bun, and the “filling” would be the hot dog itself. This shows us that the dictionary definition of a sandwich can be quite loose, but a hot dog does fit within the perimeters. However, the definition for filling is “a food mixture that goes into something, as if to fill it.” A hot dog is technically a mixture of different ingredients, namely mechanically separated chicken and fat, which fits the definition of “filling.” Now the argument is in our favor. A hot dog has so far fit all definitions of a sandwich, which may mean the end of the argument.

Some may bring up the fact that another definition of sandwich states that a sandwich is “two or more slices of bread with a layer of meat, fish, cheese, etc., between them.” The hot dog itself still fits the definition, as it would be listed under the “meat” category. We run into issues with the bun, as the dictionary states that the sandwich must have two or more slices of bread, and a hotdog has only one. 

Though one of the definitions of sandwich has stated that it must have two slices of bread, another states that it can be a single loaf with a slit down the middle. Coupled with the fact that the meat portion of the hotdog has consistently met the criteria for “filling”, it’s safe to say that far more pieces of evidence support our claim than hinder it. As for the one piece that does hinder the argument, some people eat their hot dogs with buns cut completely open, though this is more common with cheap brands that tear easily. If you eat a hotdog in this way, then it easily fits the definition of sandwich, no matter which way you look at it.

All and all, our evidence heavily points to a hotdog being a sandwich. Though many different dictionary definitions for a sandwich exist, a hotdog falls under many of them cleanly and without a second thought. Though whether or not a hotdog is a separate category of lunch meals entirely is still debatable, it is now clear that it can be neatly categorized as a sandwich.