Is a hot dog a sandwich?

The case for Team Sandwich

Team Sandwich's best witness is the dictionary. Merriam-Webster defines a sandwich as two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between, and in a 2016 article its editors argued that a hot dog is a sandwich, admitting the idea is heresy to some readers.

The government agrees, at least for taxes. New York State's sales tax bulletin on sandwiches, which says sandwiches are generally subject to sales tax, lists hot dogs and sausages on buns or rolls among them, right next to hamburgers on buns and submarine sandwiches.

Then there is the highest authority Team Sandwich could hope for. In 2018, Stephen Colbert asked Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg whether a hot dog is a sandwich. She asked him to define a sandwich first, and then ruled: "On your definition, yes, it is."

The case for Team Hot Dog

The people who make hot dogs disagree. The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council ruled in 2015 that the hot dog is "truly a category unto its own," and its president, Janet Riley, said that calling it just a sandwich is like calling the Dalai Lama just a guy.

Sandwich makers are not on board either. The director of the British Sandwich Association said the group does not consider a hot dog a sandwich, and does not consider burgers sandwiches either.

Team Hot Dog also argues from everyday language. In its view, menus list hot dogs separately from sandwiches, hardly anyone asks for a sausage sandwich at a ballpark, and a hot dog bun is usually one piece of bread hinged at the bottom, not two slices. By the Cube Rule, a popular internet joke system for classifying foods by where the bread sits, bread on the bottom and both sides makes a hot dog a taco.

The court's ruling

Both sides have real evidence, which is why this argument never ends. Team Sandwich wins on definitions: the dictionary, the New York tax bulletin, and Justice Ginsburg, on Colbert's definition, all say sandwich.

But the court rules on how people actually talk and eat, and there the evidence is one-sided. A word means what people use it to mean, and people use hot dog to mean hot dog. Team Sandwich is guilty of winning on a technicality, and is sentenced to order a hot dog by its real name.

How to settle it at your table

Do what Justice Ginsburg did: agree on the definition of a sandwich before you argue. Most hot dog fights are really fights about whether a hinged bun counts as two pieces of bread.

If you still disagree, take it to court. File both sides and let Judge Whiskerton rule on your version of the debate.

Questions people ask

Is a hot dog legally a sandwich?

For New York State sales tax, yes: the state's bulletin on sandwiches lists hot dogs and sausages on buns or rolls among the sandwiches that are generally taxable. That is a tax classification, not a general legal definition.

What did Ruth Bader Ginsburg say about hot dogs?

On The Late Show with Stephen Colbert in 2018, she asked Colbert to define a sandwich, then said a hot dog is a sandwich on his definition. It was a joke, not a court opinion.

What does the hot dog industry say?

The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council ruled in 2015 that a hot dog is not a sandwich but "truly a category unto its own."

Is a hot dog a taco?

Under the Cube Rule, an internet joke system that sorts foods by where the bread or starch sits, a hot dog counts as a taco because the bun covers the bottom and two sides.

Sources

1. Fox 13: Merriam-Webster says the hot dog is a sandwich
2. New York State Department of Taxation and Finance: Sandwiches (TB-ST-835)
3. ABA Journal: Ginsburg considers Colbert's hot dog question
4. News Letter: A hot dog is officially not a sandwich
5. Mental Floss: Hot Dog Council says a hot dog is not a sandwich
6. The Cube Rule of food