Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?
About
Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich is a longstanding argument regarding whether hot dogs served in a sliced bun can be considered a type of sandwich.
Origin
On March 6th, 2011, the food blog Panini Happy[10] published the results of an online poll, revealing that 54% of voters felt hot dogs were not sandwiches.
Spread
On April 13th, 2011, the New York Department of Taxation and Finance released a Tax Bulletin which listed "hot dogs and sausages on buns, rolls, etc" as "sandwiches" for sales tax purposes.[9] On April 21st, 2015, the food blog First We Feast[1] published an article titled "A Bro and a Philosopher Debate the True Meaning of a Sandwich," in which medieval philosophy professor Dr. Calvin Normore discussed the debate:
"I think it might also be because the history of the hot dog is different than the history of sandwiches as a whole. They almost exist on different temporal planes. When history’s first Frankfurter was made in Central Europe and stuck in a roll of bread, it was done outside the modern concept of a sandwich. So, yes, they likely are sandwiches, but only in the same sense that benches are also chairs."
On July 8th, comedian Hannibal Buress posted a tweet arguing that "a hot dog has all the qualities of a sandwich."[8] The tweet was subsequently deleted. On November 7th, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council announced that was not a sandwich.[3] The following day, Redditor Cock_Son_of_a_Beach submitted a post titled "A hotdog is a sandwich" to /r/changemyview.[6] On November 30th, comedian John Hodgman and The Sporkful[2] podcast host Dan Pashman debated the topic at the Bellhouse in Brooklyn, New York (shown below).
On December 31st, Redditor WhackAttack submitted a post titled "Is a hotdog a sandwich?" to /r/NoStupidQuestions.[5] On May 27th, 2016, the dictionary site Merriam-Webster published a blog post asserting that hot dogs could be considered a type of sandwich.[7] On August 23rd, the Georgetown University YouTube channel posted a video titled "Is a Hot Dog a Sandwich?" (shown below).
On September 22nd, Imgur[11] user nathanwplye2 posted a comic of showing several different types of sandwiches with a hot dog asking itself "Am I a sandwich?" (shown below, left). On October 10th, Redditor tommypolish submitted a picture of Ken Bone with the caption "Is a hot dog a sandwich?" to /r/BlackPeopleTwitter[12] (shown below, right).
Search Interest
External References
[1] First We Feast – A Bro and a philosopher debate the true meaning of a sandwich
[2] Sporkful – John Hodgman v Dan Pashman
[3] USA Today – is a hot dog a sandwich
[4] Hot-Dog – Is a hot dog a sandwich
[5] Reddit – Is a hotdog a sandwich?
[6] Reddit – CMV – a hotdog is a sandwich
[7] Merriam Webster – To Chew On – 10 Kinds of Sandwiches
[8] Death and Taxes – Hannibal Buress has declared the hot dog a sandwich
[9] Tax.ny.gov – Tax Bulletin ST-835
[10] Panini Happy – Is it a sandwich?
[11] Imgur – Classic Sandwiches
Top Comments
Atanarix
Feb 06, 2017 at 05:46PM EST
sansman
Feb 06, 2017 at 08:14PM EST