# Are Hot Dogs sandwiches? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 22, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928 "2014-12-22T17:18:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/1 "2014-12-22T17:18:11Z")
Just read this question, figured it may make for some lively debate on the Dope. Or not. Somebody care to take the obviously wrong answer and just run with it, to be contrarian? Anyway, what say you? ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/2 "2014-12-22T17:19:15Z")
Oh, this is a public poll. Just FYI. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/3 "2014-12-22T17:23:01Z")
The essential nature of the Sandwich is that it is filling between bread–two pieces of bread, or a single piece opened or folded to form two enclosing sides. Certainly a hot dog is a sandwich, in the same essential sense that a taco is a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/4 "2014-12-22T17:26:01Z")
[Frankfurter sandwiches](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YeNg4p9cyCA). ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/5 "2014-12-22T17:26:10Z")
Meatish substance, bread, condiments: the definition of a sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/6 "2014-12-22T17:29:58Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The essential nature of the Sandwich is that it is filling between bread–two pieces of bread, or a single piece opened or folded to form two enclosing sides. Certainly a hot dog is a sandwich, in the same essential sense that a taco is a sandwich. This is my view as well. ---
**Author:** ![doorhinge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a5b964/32.png) [@doorhinge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doorhinge)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/7 "2014-12-22T17:30:16Z")
Technically, hot dogs are a meat (of some sort) and not a sandwich. A hot dog on a bun is sandwich. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/8 "2014-12-22T17:33:35Z")
Yes, under doorhinge’s more precise definition. ---
**Author:** ![Macca26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/13edae/32.png) [@Macca26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Macca26)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/9 "2014-12-22T17:44:36Z")
It gets complicated when you get spread sandwiches in the mix but for me the main points of a sandwich are: 1. Two separate slices of a bread 2. Sliced meats/vegetables/fruit/cheese AND/OR spreads When buns are involved it gets iffy. It’s only a sandwich in that case if you have sliced meats/vegetables/cheese. Really, a sub/hoagie is like a separate class of item for me because of the bun; I guess technically it is a sandwich if you’re doing the sliced meats route. But I rebel at the thought of meatballs in a sub roll being a sandwich because it meets none of my criteria; it’s just meatballs on a sub roll, so meatball sub. Anyway, cheeseburgers - not slices of bread, not sliced meat = not a sandwich. Hot dog - not slices of bread, not sliced meat = not a sandwich. Taco - not slices of bread, not sliced mead = not a sandwich. Now, if you took a hot dog, sliced it up, and then put that on slices of white bread and spread mustard on it? Then I would gladly call that a sandwich. That’s just my personal view. Call tacos sandwiches all you like if it pleases you, but I may get confused if you ask me “please pass the sandwiches” while pointing to the tacos. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/10 "2014-12-22T17:47:02Z")
They’re a sandwich when eaten with a bun. Otherwise . . . sometimes a wiener is just a wiener. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/11 "2014-12-22T17:52:29Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The essential nature of the Sandwich is that it is filling between bread–two pieces of bread, or a single piece opened or folded to form two enclosing sides. Certainly a hot dog is a sandwich, in the same essential sense that a taco is a sandwich. I’ll take the opposing viewpoint here. I disagree with the second half of your premise. A sandwich consists of filling between \*\*\*two \*\*\*pieces of bread (or three if you’re making a club sandwich of a Big Mac). A single piece of bread doesn’t qualify, unless you’re having an ‘open-faced sandwich’…but that’s sort of like ‘white chocolate’, so best not spoken of further. Hot dog buns, being in most circumstances a single ‘hinged’ unit, (unlike a hamburger bun, which is composed of two distinct pieces of bread) disqualify the hot dog from being considered a sandwich. For the same reason, a taco is not a sandwich. Nor is a burrito, or a gyro, or a calzone, or any other of the myriad “meat ‘n’ things stuffed inside some sort of dough” dishes across the globe. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/12 "2014-12-22T17:55:00Z")
I don’t think I’d get used to calling a hot dog a sandwich, but I’ll concede the point. I’ll happily call a sub a sandwich. I’ll call a Whopper or Big Mac a sandwich in spite of it being on a bun. I’ll call an Egg McMuffin a sandwich. And if you fold over a slice of bread with some meat and cheese inside, that’s a sandwich. So I won’t argue with a hot dog being called a sandwich. If it keeps your hand from greasing up the playing cards, it’s all good. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/13 "2014-12-22T17:55:25Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > Hot dog buns, being in most circumstances a single ‘hinged’ unit, (unlike a hamburger bun, which is composed of two distinct pieces of bread) disqualify the hot dog from being considered a sandwich. For the same reason, a taco is not a sandwich. Nor is a burrito, or a gyro, or a calzone, or any other of the myriad “meat ‘n’ things stuffed inside some sort of dough” dishes across the globe. Then what are subs, hoagies, grinders and cheese-steaks? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/14 "2014-12-22T18:00:39Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > Then what are subs, hoagies, grinders and cheese-steaks? Yeah, I don’t recall ever ordering a “cheese-steak hinged unit”. ---
**Author:** ![Scumpup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce73a5/32.png) [@Scumpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scumpup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/15 "2014-12-22T18:03:27Z")
Of course they are sandwiches. Anybody who claims otherwise is just bored and looking for something about which to argue. ---
**Author:** ![Labrador\_Deceiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7c8e57/32.png) [@Labrador\_Deceiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Labrador_Deceiver)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/16 "2014-12-22T18:08:57Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Yeah, I don’t recall ever ordering a “cheese-steak hinged unit”. I don’t recall ever ordering a “hot dog sandwich”. I would never call a hot dog a sandwich. Doing so would create more confusion than it would alleviate. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/17 "2014-12-22T18:15:08Z")
We like to pretend there are clear definitions of things, and that applying the specs of the definition, we can cleanly place something in the set of those things, or outside the set. In reality, definitions are hazy spheres of meaning, with excellent, archetypal examples in the middle (ham on rye), and things vastly different well away from its sphere of influence (coffee mug). A hot dog falls more \*outside \*the idea of sandwich than inside. It’s kind of a sandwich, but if I’m forced binary, it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Tamex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@Tamex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamex)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/18 "2014-12-22T18:26:06Z")
My daughter got a job this summer at a state fair booth that sold Chicago-style hot dogs (and other “sausage on a bun” type foodstuffs.) Her job was to put the toppings that people requested on the hot dog, etc. Her official job title was “sandwich prepper”. So, the people who sell such things call them sandwiches. That’s good enough for me. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/19 "2014-12-22T18:30:42Z")
So a [Double Down sandwich from KFC](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_Down_%28sandwich%29)… not a [sandwich](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandwich)? ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [December 22, 2014, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928/20 "2014-12-22T18:34:39Z")
I voted “no”. I fully accept everyone’s analysis as to why it should be a sandwich. It makes sense, it’s logic is sound, and by all rightful credit it is the correct answer. But no! It’s not a sandwhich! It’s a hot dog. Soooo totally separate. What are you crazy? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-hot-dogs-sandwiches/707928.md?page=2)