Great Debate

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Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Yes

In order to argue my point, we first must define “sandwich.” Webster’s Dictionary defines sandwich as “two pieces of bread with something between them.”

The hot dog fits this basic definition. It in its purest form, it is a dog between two buns. You can fill it with all sorts of decadent condiments like mustard or sauerkraut and it still fits the definition of a sandwich.

Bread comes in many forms: pita pocket, baguette, loaves and most importantly, buns. Buns support the most classic of American delicacies: cheeseburgers and hot dogs, America’s most classic sandwiches.

America would be nothing without baseball, and baseball would be nothing without its true mascot, the hot dog. The sandwich of sports.

Picture yourself at a ball game, with children in the stands cheering for their favorite team. In my mental picture, they are holding ice cream and hot dogs.

Then there’s the Fourth of July parade, a summer day on the grill. Grilling out, throwing hot dogs on the grill, you toss it on a bun and you’ve got the definition of a sandwich and a substantial meal.

It’s much easier to eat on the go than a traditionally breaded sandwich, but that doesn’t make it less of a sandwich.

A sandwich doesn’t have to be rectangular. I prefer narrower bread shapes when eating a sandwich anyway. Take a submarine sandwich for example. This type of sandwich has its own kind of bread. Burgers have circular bread. Hot dogs just happen to have another type of bread.

Anyone who understands what a sandwich is and then looks at a hot dog should see it fits the picture.

Hot dogs are practical and an American tradition. They are also a sandwich.

— Andrea Montgomery, Staff Writer

 

No

When you’re at a baseball stadium and you see vendors walking through the stands, you don’t hear them yelling over the cheering crowd, “Sandwich? Get your sandwich here.” When you pack a sandwich for work, you’re not making yourself a hot dog, right?

Let me just dispel the myth and say that hot dogs are not sandwiches, not in any way shape or form. I never even thought a hot dog was or could be associated with a sandwich until now.

Oxford Dictionary defined a hot dog as “a frankfurter, especially one served hot in a long, soft roll and topped with various condiments.” Not two pieces of bread with something in between them.

In addition, Newsweek reported the president of America’s National Hot Dog and Sausage Council Janet Riley ruled out hot dogs as being sandwiches.

“Limiting a hot dog’s significance by saying it’s ‘just a sandwich’ is like calling the Dalai Lama ‘just a guy’,” Riley said.

So, please tell me why there is even a worldwide debate about whether or not a hot dog is a sandwich, when all signs point to it not being one?

Is a brat a sandwich? Is a turkey wrap a sandwich? No, so why should a hot dog be one? I’m baffled by anyone who says otherwise.

You can eat a hot dog without a bun, but you can’t eat a sandwich without bread, and putting something on a bun doesn’t make it a sandwich either.

It’s all the same at the end of the day; a hot dog will still be a hot dog.

— Sadie Sedlmayr, Staff Writer