A hot dog is an item between two pieces of bread

The argument

The argument settles the question by appeal to definition rather than to intuition or custom. The basic definition of a sandwich in the Merriam-Webster dictionary is "two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between". That definition carries the whole case, so it is worth noting how it is built: it does not require two separate slices, since it admits a split roll as an alternative, and it specifies nothing about the filling beyond its position. Measured against it, a hot dog qualifies without difficulty. It's a split roll with a piece of meat in the middle, which matches the second of the two permitted forms exactly and satisfies the filling condition in the most straightforward way available. Every element the definition requires is present, and nothing it excludes is. The appeal to this particular source is deliberate. Having the definition in the most commonly used dictionary in the world is what the argument treats as making an irrefutable case, because a dictionary records how a word is actually used by the people who use it rather than stipulating how it ought to be used. Somebody who accepts the definition but rejects the conclusion is not disputing a fact about hot dogs; they are disputing the current meaning of the word sandwich, which is not a question the dictionary leaves open. The conclusion is simply the rule applied to the case. If what makes something a sandwich is a filling held between slices of bread or within a split roll, then anything answering that description is one, and a hot dog answers it. A hot dog is therefore a sandwich, and the matter is settled by the definition rather than by whether the result sounds odd to say out loud.

Premises

Counter-arguments

The dictionary does not specify EXACTLY if a hot dog can be classified as a sandwich. The definition of a hot dog in the same dictionary also does not match the definition for a sandwich. It's like rectangles and squares - a rectangle is a square but a square is not considered a rectangle.

Rejecting the premises

[Rejecting P1] A dictionary records how a word is used rather than settling a disputed classification, and the same dictionary carries a separate entry for the hot dog — which is itself evidence that ordinary usage treats the two as different things. [Rejecting P2] The roll is split rather than cut through, so on a stricter reading the bread is one piece rather than two, which is the feature the opposing side rests on. Calling the case irrefutable also overstates it: the definition is what is in dispute, so citing one cannot end the dispute.