Shower Thoughts: Is a Hotdog a Sandwich?

Ever been tonsil-deep in a glizzy and thought to yourself: is this hot dog a sandwich?

Few debates have torn apart the minds of men quite like this one. But, now that baseball’s back, maybe it’s time to settle the age-old dilemma once and for all.

First, let’s look at the actual definition of a sandwich. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines it as:

“two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between”

Seems simple enough, right? On first read, this ABSOLUTELY makes it sound like a hot dog is a sandwich. It fulfills all the requirements:

A hot dog has “bread.”
It has a “filling.”
You eat it with your hands.

However, a hotdog bun is typically one piece with a connected hinge, making it more of a folded bread. This subtle distinction raises questions about its sandwich legitimacy.

Plus hot dogs are usually listed in their own section of menus. And they’re not really eaten like sandwiches – it’s more of an open-faced piece of bread with toppings. That makes it closer to a pizza.

So, what’s the verdict?

What if the real issue is our need to categorize everything with semantics? Is Pluto a planet? Is cereal a soup? Is a hot dog a sandwich? The answers depend on your chosen definition for each word.

Maybe the hot dog is technically a sandwich… or maybe, just maybe, it’s something greater. Maybe the hot dog simply transcends the idea of sandwichness altogether.

Why must we limit the humble dog’s potential by categorizing it in the first place? Why must humanity pigeon-hole such a dynamic, versatile cuisine by calling it something that could never fully describe it?

I say let the hot dog fly free! Free of labels or limitations! Free to defy the expectations of our desire for neat little classification! After all, some things deserve a category all their own.

Now who wants to fire up the grill?