'Is A Hot Dog A Sandwich?' - Here's What Reddit Really Thinks

Celebrity cook Rachael Ray thinks hot dogs belong on salads, and Ina Garten has grilled up frankfurters for breakfast — both of them challenging the mighty meat's traditional role. But the age-old question isn't whether wieners can (or should) be transformed into a morning meal or take on a different form outside their classic presentation in a perfectly portable bun. It's whether or not the tubular meat flanked by bread qualifies as a sandwich. As with so many of the important questions of our time, social media users took to Reddit for a lengthy discussion regarding the proper categorization of the cookout classic.

One Redditor posited that, according to Merriam-Webster's definition of a sandwich — "two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between" — a hot dog in a bun would indeed qualify. From there, debate ensued, with a few Redditors agreeing, while others challenged the idea with varying levels of vehemence. Some provided simple anecdotal evidence to support their side, while others took a scientific approach.

Many users leaned into linguistics and expectations to support their argument. "The only thing that defines it is how it's used by the majority of people who speak the language," one user wrote. "For the vast majority of people, they would not expect a hot dog when told they were getting a sandwich" — an opinion echoed by a large number of other commenters.

While a plethora of posts suggested that calling a hot dog a sandwich would just cause confusion, there was pushback from the hot-dogs-are-sandwiches supporters, with one noting, "I think if you text a group of friends 'is a hot dog a sandwich' you'll get controversial responses, but if you casually refer to a hot dog as a sandwich[,] most people won't bat an eye."

Meanwhile, some users reached for science-based ways to answer the question, with one suggesting a diagram with x- and y-axes — ingredients and structure, respectively — to create a visual interpretation of the sandwich spectrum. Ultimately, the user concluded, "You cannot say definitively what is and isn't a sandwich, but rather to what extent it is a sandwich." Others took a left turn in the debate and suggested that hot dogs are instead tacos, citing the cube rule, which categorizes foods based on their bread structure.

Still, other posters suggested that labeling the dish at all is wholly unnecessary. "It's a hot dog[,] it doesn't have to be under a category," said one, while another asked, "Why can't they just be their own thing?" Overall, it would seem that Redditors were far from coming to a consensus, so we're still left to ponder the timeless conundrum — unless you side with the three U.S. states where hot dogs are legally sandwiches.