Is a hot dog a sandwich?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is a hot dog a sandwich?". Your opponent's style: Sherlock Holmes

A hot dog is not a sandwich because it does not consist of 2 separate pieces of bread. If a hot dog (the meat) is put in between 2 slices of bread, it is a sandwich. If anything, it should be considered a type of bread with a topping, just like a piece of toast with ham or jam on it is not considered a sandwich.

You've just admitted hot dogs ARE sandwiches, then contradicted yourself. If meat between two bread slices makes a sandwich, then a hot dog bun—which is literally two bread pieces hinged together—absolutely qualifies. Your "separate pieces" requirement is arbitrary gatekeeping. Toast with toppings isn't a sandwich because it's open-faced. A hot dog is closed-faced, with bread on multiple sides. The structural difference is what matters, and a hot dog has it. You're clinging to intuition instead of definition. Why should a hinge matter more than the actual architecture of bread enclosing filling?

You said a hot dog bun is "literally two pieces of bread hinged together" That is NOT two separate pieces of bread. That is bread, just folded/cut in a way that hugs a hot dog (the meat). Are hot dog buns made of 2 pieces of bread just connected by glue? Even if that was the case, then the "glue" attaches the pieces of bread and it is not separate after whatever binds them together is applied, but regardless, a hot dog bun is a single piece of bread, not 2 attached pieces, which is what you said.

You're splitting hairs on manufacturing, not substance. A hot dog bun has two distinct bread surfaces with an interior gap—structurally identical to two slices with filling between them. The "hinge" is irrelevant to the sandwich question. You're arguing the METHOD of bread assembly matters more than the RESULT. It doesn't. A sandwich is bread enclosing filling. Whether that bread started as one piece or two is manufacturing trivia, not a defining feature. You've conceded the actual structure: bread on multiple sides around meat. That's a sandwich. Stop hiding behind production details.