# You’re Making Yourself a Sandwich. Do You Cut It in Half? Why? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 23, 2016, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010 "2016-01-23T20:08:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/41 "2016-01-24T12:38:49Z")
I’m willing to accept a sandwich cut in half when it’s presented on a plate and each half can be handled as a discrete unit but if I already have a plate, I’m usually not in the mood for a sandwich. Sandwiches are portable food, meant to be eaten on the go and I virulently despise portable sandwiches that are cut in half. The worst is when you reach that last nub of the first sandwich half that juts up against the second half and the friction from the cutting produces a shower of debris and gobs of sauce that fly everywhere once unconstrained. Walkin around sandwiches should be eaten like a burrito, the outer wrapping provides the structural integrity and pieces are peeled back layer by layer to expose fresh sandwich for consumption. Nobody ever cuts a freaking hotdog in half because we all understand that hotdogs are portable food and the structure supports that purpose. But if you do cut a sandwich in half, diagonal is infinitely superior to the infantile half rectangles. Diagonal gives you three possible choices by which to attack the sandwich: 45 degrees, 90 degrees and 180 degrees. Rectangular only gives you the impoverished choice of two: 90 degrees or 180 degrees. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/42 "2016-01-24T13:40:22Z")
Of course I do. I am not a savage. ---
**Author:** ![not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/not_what_you_d_expect/32/3246_2.png) [@not\_what\_you\_d\_expect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/not_what_you_d_expect)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/43 "2016-01-24T16:03:57Z")
Not as a rule. It just never occurs to me. But most of my sandwiches these days are on a mini bagel and it makes no sense to me to cut that in half. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2016, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/44 "2016-01-24T16:45:25Z")
> [@Ukulele\_Ike](#): > > Yes, I cut it. Makes it easier to hold in my delicate little hands. And less likely that stuff will fall out the farther end. Pretty much this. If I feel fancy, I may cut it [heraldically](http://khevron.tripod.com/hr/toast.html). ---
**Author:** ![smithsb](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smithsb/32/12107_2.png) [@smithsb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smithsb)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/45 "2016-01-25T05:21:35Z")
Big slices I cut - Costco sourdough bread for instance. Also super fat deli sandwiches - mucks up the handlebar mustache. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/46 "2016-01-25T05:29:00Z")
I usually cut sandwiches in half. Just a little easier to handle 'em. ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/47 "2016-01-25T05:32:37Z")
I cut in half diagonally. It’s just slightly more aesthetically pleasing on the plate and I find that if my healthy lunch is visually appealing, I’m less cranky about the fact I’m not stuffing my face with fatty carby tasty food. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 9:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/48 "2016-01-25T09:40:48Z")
No, can’t say that I do. Oh, and the crusts are the best part of the bread 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiendish_astronaut/32/3295_2.png) [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiendish_Astronaut)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/49 "2016-01-25T11:03:19Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Cutting the sandwich leaves me fuller. There’s just something about having it in two pieces. It’s like treating yourself to two sandwiches. 😉 decadent huh? > > yeah it’s a mental trick. But it works because it slows me down. I feel fuller when I eat slower. Take a minute or two break before eating the 2nd half. I don’t cut the sandwich because that activity uses up a small extra amount of energy which some of the sandwich then has to go towards replacing. It’s also a mental trick of course but there a vanishingly tiny truth behind it too - so it’s a much more powerful mental trick. 🙂 ---
**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:** [January 25, 2016, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/50 "2016-01-25T12:57:09Z")
I eat around the edges first, then the middle. Cutting would make this difficult. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/51 "2016-01-25T13:10:09Z")
When my kids were little, I used to cut all of their sandwiches into halves or quarters, just to make things a bit easier/neater. I didn’t realize that I’d imported this into my own life. The first time my gf, me, and my adult kids all went out to eat together my gf cracked up. She had noticed, but never mentioned, that I would cut sandwhiches, even burgers, into smaller pieces. Seeing me, my son, and daughter all doing this was apparently very funny.😃 ---
**Author:** ![sabernode](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/278dde/32.png) [@sabernode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sabernode)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/52 "2016-01-25T13:17:42Z")
I usually cut it in half, for easier handling i think 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/53 "2016-01-25T13:32:55Z")
> [@Fiendish\_Astronaut](#): > > I don’t cut the sandwich because that activity uses up a small extra amount of energy which some of the sandwich then has to go towards replacing. > > It’s also a mental trick of course but there a vanishingly tiny truth behind it too - so it’s a much more powerful mental trick. 🙂 Just think of the muscles you’re building by cutting your sandwich into halves! ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/54 "2016-01-25T19:23:14Z")
I don’t usually cut a sandwich I make in half, I guess because it will be down my pie hole in a jiffy anyways. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/55 "2016-01-25T20:26:30Z")
All the crust-haters sound like my 5 year old. ---
**Author:** ![epbrown01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@epbrown01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/epbrown01)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/56 "2016-01-25T22:36:33Z")
Typically I cut sandwiches and hamburgers into quarters arranged around the edge of the plate, with fries/chips/crisps in the center. The smaller size makes it easier to prevent fallout while eating one-handed, as I’m often reading when I snack. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [January 27, 2016, 2:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010/57 "2016-01-27T14:53:47Z")
> [@Omar\_Little](#): > > All the crust-haters sound like my 5 year old. I don’t hate crusts and I don’t leave them. It’s just that when I’m hungry, I want bites with a good proportion of the good stuff. The filling in most sandwiches peters out toward the crust. Sometimes there’s nothing but bread and spread. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/you-re-making-yourself-a-sandwich-do-you-cut-it-in-half-why/744010.md?page=2)