Ruth Bader Ginsburg

Ever since Sir Edward Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich, ordered a slab of meat between two slices of bread so that he could eat and continue to play cards uninterrupted, the sandwich has been a lunchtime fixture in many western countries.

The question of what does or does not constitute a sandwich has arisen at times. A yet-to-be-resolved debate over whether Welsh rabbit is a sandwich rages on.

The latest controversy over sandwiches has gone all the way to the Supreme Court, or at least to a single Supreme Court Justice. As Fox News reports, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was a guest on “The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” on March 21.

The jurist was asked about what Colbert identified as “one of the most divisive issues facing our country”: whether a hot dog is a sandwich.

Ginsburg was tactful. “You tell me what a sandwich is and then I’ll tell you if a hot dog is a sandwich,” she said.

After much back and forth, the ruling was made. Yes, a hot dog is a sandwich.