That's a little hard to swallow! Merriam-Webster trolls the world by declaring hot dogs to be sandwiches

  • The Massachusetts-based dictionary Tweeted the message Friday
  • Many disagreed - and some accused the company of 'hating America'
  • But according to its definition of a sandwich, the Tweet was right
  • The definition includes 'a split roll having a filling in-between'
  • The battle continues to rage on Twitter

By James Wilkinson For Dailymail.com

Published: 20:18 EST, 28 May 2016 | Updated: 05:44 EST, 29 May 2016

The Merriam-Webster dictionary has caused uproar with what some say is an attack on an American institution, or even America itself. 

The 210-year-old institution alternately horrified and delighted a good chunk of its 95,300 Twitter followers Friday when it announced 'Have a great #MemorialDayWeekend. The hot dog is a sandwich.'

Much like a bad frankfurter, the trolling declaration led to a gut response that was swift, startling and aggressive. 

Controversy: Merriam-Webster's insistence that hot dogs are sandwiches - announced Friday - has delighted some and horrified many more, some of whom denounced the Mass.-based dictionary as 'un-American'

Controversy: Merriam-Webster's insistence that hot dogs are sandwiches - announced Friday - has delighted some and horrified many more, some of whom denounced the Mass.-based dictionary as 'un-American'

A meaty topic: Merriam-Webster defines a sandwich as 'two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in-between' - which would indeed make a hot dog a candidate for the title

A meaty topic: Merriam-Webster defines a sandwich as 'two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in-between' - which would indeed make a hot dog a candidate for the title

'Blasphemy!' exclaimed @KhalBadger, 'Your butt is a sandwich!'

'Blocked. I'm not kidding,' said @brandon_warne, who was joined in his disappointment by @ericgeller. He simply said, 'I trusted you.'

And @onebrightlight could only express his disgust with an animated gif of Oprah saying 'I will not accept that.'  

Others were more philosophical. 'A hamburger is a sandwich,' reasoned @chrisbest11. 'The hot dog is an institution.'

And @zachpennington worried about a slippery slope: 'What about a taco? Where does this end?'

Hands up: This user could only express his distaste for the dictionary's claims with an animated gif of Oprah Winfrey

Hands up: This user could only express his distaste for the dictionary's claims with an animated gif of Oprah Winfrey

Blasphemy: This true believer in the hot dog was rather more strident, saying 'Your butt is a sandwich!'

Blasphemy: This true believer in the hot dog was rather more strident, saying 'Your butt is a sandwich!'

Blocked: Some users claimed to have blocked the dictionary for its act of trolling 

Blocked: Some users claimed to have blocked the dictionary for its act of trolling 

Un-American: For some users, this was a test of national pride - with 'Team Sandwich' being America-bashers

Un-American: For some users, this was a test of national pride - with 'Team Sandwich' being America-bashers

Philosophical: This user took a more philosophical approach to his criticism of the claim

Philosophical: This user took a more philosophical approach to his criticism of the claim

The Tweet had linked to an article on the top ten sandwiches that explained the dictionary team's thinking.

'Given that the definition of a sandwich is "two or more slices of bread or a split roll having a filling in between," there is no sensible way around it,' Merriam-Webster said.

'If you want a meatball sandwich on a split roll to be a kind of sandwich, then you have to accept that a hot dog is also a kind of sandwich.'

It continued: 'If you choose to interpret filling narrowly as only "a food mixture used to fill pastry or sandwiches," rather than broadly as "something used to fill a cavity, container, or depression," then you're not going to allow any single-item filling to qualify a food item as a sandwich.'

That, it said, 'means there can be no thing as a peanut butter sandwich or a bologna (or even baloney) sandwich.'

A few voices in the wilderness - who'd clearly been fighting the 'hot dog is a sandwich corner' for some time - spoke out in delight about the dictionary's claims.

'Yes, YES IT IS!!!!!!!!' said @JorEl10262009, whose exclamation point key probably no longer works properly. 'Viva EL HOTDOGGO!!!!!!!!'

And @scottbails13 gave the dictionary a toast with an animated gif from Silicon Valley and the message 'Damn right, brother.'

The battle continues to rage on Twitter. 

Betrayed: Twitter user Eric Geller's heart was broken by the announcement

Betrayed: Twitter user Eric Geller's heart was broken by the announcement

Delighted: Though the majority seemed to be appalled by the claim, this user was one of a small number of people who agreed with the dictionary's claim

Delighted: Though the majority seemed to be appalled by the claim, this user was one of a small number of people who agreed with the dictionary's claim

Toast: This user raised a virtual glass to Merriam-Webster

Toast: This user raised a virtual glass to Merriam-Webster

Comments (90)

Share what you think

 View all

The comments below have not been moderated.

 View all

The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline.

Add your comment

By posting your comment you agree to our house rules.

Who is this week's top commenter? Find out now