A hot dog is meat in a sliced bun, held together with condiments — which sure sounds like a sandwich by most definitions. But almost nobody actually calls it one. Is a hot dog a sandwich?
One of the internet's longest-running food arguments, revived every summer grilling season without fail.
What happened
The debate resurfaces constantly online, usually anchored to a formal definition of a sandwich (filling between bread) that a hot dog technically satisfies.
Why people disagree
The definitional camp says a hot dog meets every criterion of a sandwich and should be classified as one. The cultural camp argues food categories are defined by how people actually use the word, not a dictionary technicality, and nobody orders a hot dog by asking for a sandwich.
What's still unclear
Whether food categories should be governed by structural definitions or by common usage is itself an unresolved question that goes well beyond hot dogs.
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