Fun debate topics for friends

39 questions that split a room down the middle. They're cards from The Lobbyist, a party game about arguing with your friends, picked for the fights they started at real tables.

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How to use them

Read one out and go around the room. Everyone picks a side and gives one reason. Then let them fight it out.

The best ones sound silly and turn out to be about something real: fairness, money, or who owes who. A question about the office fridge is really a question about stealing.

Under every side is one line of the case for it. Steal it, or beat it. If you've been told to argue a side you don't believe, here's how to do it well.

Food debate topics

Start here. Everyone has an opinion about food, and every one of them is wrong except yours.

Is a hot dog a sandwich?
- YEA SANDWICH
  It's meat held in bread, which is the entire job description.
- NAY NOT A SANDWICH
  Nobody has ever ordered a hot dog by asking for a sandwich.
Does pineapple belong on pizza?
- YEA BELONGS
  Sweet fruit against salty ham is the oldest flavor trick there is.
- NAY HARD NO
  Warm, wet fruit turns a good crust into a soggy fruit salad.
Is taking the last slice without asking a declaration of war?
- YEA ACT OF WAR
  The whole table was politely leaving it until you broke the treaty.
- NAY YOU SNOOZE
  It sat there for twenty minutes, so the table already passed on it.
Can you start eating before everyone's food arrives?
- YEA DIG IN
  Your fries are dying while you sit there being polite.
- NAY WAIT FOR ALL
  Eating together is the whole point of going out together.
Is food in the office fridge fair game after a week?
- YEA FAIR GAME
  After seven days it stops being lunch and starts being abandoned.
- NAY STILL STEALING
  A forgotten lunch is still somebody's lunch with their name on it.
Can you eat food that's been on the floor for five seconds?
- YEA 5-SECOND RULE
  A dry cracker on a clean kitchen floor picks up almost nothing.
- NAY NOPE
  Germs don't wait politely for five seconds before they climb on.
Can you bring store-bought dessert and act like you made it?
- YEA GENIUS
  Everyone gets a great pie, and nobody needed to know about the box.
- NAY FRAUD
  Someone will ask for the recipe, and you'll have to invent one.

More food debates

Debate topics about manners

The small rules of life in public, which people will defend like they're in the constitution.

Can you recline your airplane seat all the way?
- YEA ALL THE WAY
  You paid for that seat, button included.
- NAY NEVER
  Those four inches come straight out of someone's knees.
Should you hold the door for someone far enough away to jog for it?
- YEA HOLD IT
  Three seconds of your time beats a door in someone's face.
- NAY LET IT SHUT
  Now they have to jog, and you've turned a kindness into a chore.
Do you have to tip when the screen spins around at the counter?
- YEA TAP A TIP
  A dollar means more to the person who made it than it does to you.
- NAY SKIP IT
  Handing someone a muffin is not table service.
Should kids be allowed in fancy restaurants?
- YEA KIDS WELCOME
  Kids only learn to behave at restaurants by going to restaurants.
- NAY ADULTS ONLY
  Nobody saves up for a quiet anniversary dinner beside a meltdown.
If you find $20 on the ground, is it yours?
- YEA KEEP IT
  Nobody can prove a loose twenty is theirs, so it's finders keepers.
- NAY TURN IT IN
  Somebody's lunch money is missing, and they're retracing their steps.
Can you sit in a coffee shop for hours on one coffee?
- YEA CAMP OUT
  They put in the outlets and the Wi-Fi, so they're asking you to stay.
- NAY BUY ANOTHER
  That table is rent, and one latte doesn't cover four hours of it.

Debate questions for friends

These ones are about the people in the room. Go carefully.

Do you have to bring something to a house party?
- YEA BRING SNACKS
  A bag of chips is the cheapest ticket to a party there is.
- NAY EMPTY-HANDED
  The host planned the food, so your only job is to be fun.
Should guests help clean up after dinner?
- YEA PITCH IN
  Ten hands clear a table in two minutes, and the host gets to sit.
- NAY SIT TIGHT
  Guests in the kitchen just put things away in the wrong cabinets.
Is texting "on my way" before you've left a lie?
- YEA LIE
  You're still in the shower, and that is not on the way anywhere.
- NAY BASICALLY TRUE
  You're getting ready, which is the first step of being on the way.
When you were right, can you say "I told you so"?
- YEA RUB IT IN
  You warned them out loud, so you've earned the victory lap.
- NAY BE GRACIOUS
  Being right feels better when they admit it on their own.
Should you tell a friend their new haircut isn't great?
- YEA BE HONEST
  Friends tell you before you book the same cut again.
- NAY SAY IT'S GREAT
  Nothing you say will grow it back by Friday.
Should you tell your best friend you don't trust their partner?
- YEA TELL THEM
  A real friend speaks up before the wedding, not after.
- NAY KEEP QUIET
  They'll pick the partner, and you'll lose the friend.
Should friends tell each other how much they earn?
- YEA SHARE IT
  It's how you find out you've been underpaid for three years.
- NAY MY BUSINESS
  Money talk turns friends into a ranking around the dinner table.
Should you lend your car to a friend?
- YEA LEND IT
  It's sitting in the driveway anyway, and they need to get to work.
- NAY NOT MY CAR
  If they crash it, your insurance and your friendship both take a hit.

Debate topics about phones and texting

Everyone has a texting style, and everyone thinks theirs is normal.

Is replying "k" to a long text rude?
- YEA RUDE
  They wrote you three paragraphs, and you gave them a single letter.
- NAY EFFICIENT
  It says message received, which is all they needed to know.
Is sending a four-minute voice message a crime?
- YEA A CRIME
  You can't skim a voice message, so now you're hunting for headphones.
- NAY A GIFT
  You get the whole story in their voice, laugh included.
Is turning off read receipts shady?
- YEA SHADY
  The only reason to hide it is that you read it and didn't answer.
- NAY PRIVACY
  You get to read a message without being on the clock to answer.
Is calling without texting first rude?
- YEA RUDE
  A surprise call means someone died or someone wants something.
- NAY IT'S A PHONE
  Texting to ask if you can call takes longer than calling.
Phones at the dinner table?
- YEA PHONES OK
  Half of dinner conversation is someone showing a photo anyway.
- NAY PHONES AWAY
  Your friends came to see your face, not the top of your head.

Funny debate questions about dating

Love is blind. These questions are not.

Should couples share their phone passcodes?
- YEA SHARE THEM
  If you end up in the hospital, they can call your mom.
- NAY PRIVATE
  Trusting someone means you don't need to check their phone.
Should you split the check on a first date?
- YEA SPLIT IT
  Nobody owes anybody anything, and that makes the second date easier.
- NAY ONE PAYS
  Whoever doesn't pay tonight gets to pay for date two.
Is it OK to ghost someone after one date?
- YEA GHOST
  One coffee doesn't earn anyone a breakup speech.
- NAY SAY SOMETHING
  A two-line text takes a minute and saves them a week of wondering.
If your partner calls off the engagement, do you keep the ring?
- YEA KEEP THE RING
  It was a gift, and they're the one who walked away.
- NAY GIVE IT BACK
  That ring came with a promise, and the promise is off.
Is it OK to fart in front of your partner?
- YEA TOTALLY
  If you plan to grow old together, this was always going to happen.
- NAY NEVER EVER
  Once it happens, the romance never fully recovers.

Family debate topics

Best saved for when the whole family is at the table.

Should you let kids win at board games?
- YEA LET THEM WIN
  A few early wins keep them at the table long enough to get good.
- NAY NO MERCY
  Losing at checkers is the cheapest life lesson they'll ever get.
Should the sibling who did the caregiving inherit more?
- YEA THEY EARNED IT
  They gave up years of their life while everyone else sent cards.
- NAY SPLIT IT EVEN
  An uneven split turns grief into a family feud that never ends.
Should your parents have a key to your place?
- YEA GIVE THEM ONE
  Someone needs to water the plants and save you when you're locked out.
- NAY NO KEY
  A key means a surprise visit while you're still in your underwear.
Should parents read their teenager's texts?
- YEA READ THEM
  Most trouble a teenager gets into starts on their phone.
- NAY TEEN PRIVACY
  Kids who get snooped on just learn to hide things better.

Debate topics about work

For the group chat that is mostly complaining about work.

Can you call in sick when you're just sick of work?
- YEA TAKE THE DAY
  A burned-out brain counts, and one day off saves a whole bad week.
- NAY THAT'S LYING
  Your coworkers cover your shift thinking you have a fever.
Should you reply to work messages on vacation?
- YEA REPLY
  Two minutes of answering beats a week of mess waiting for you.
- NAY OUT OF OFFICE
  Answer once, and they'll expect you to answer on every beach forever.
Is quitting without two weeks' notice OK?
- YEA JUST LEAVE
  They'd fire you with zero notice, so you owe them the same.
- NAY GIVE NOTICE
  You'll need a reference someday, and bosses remember who bolted.
Is "per my last email" basically swearing?
- YEA SWEARING
  Everyone reading it can hear the word you didn't type.
- NAY PROFESSIONAL
  It points to the answer politely and keeps everyone on the same page.

What makes a good debate topic

Both sides sound reasonable. If one side is obviously right, there's nothing to argue about. Is cereal soup? Sounds like a fight, until you notice nobody actually thinks it is.
Nobody needs to be an expert. Food, manners and phones work because everyone has lived them.
It's a little personal. Should couples share their phone passcodes? That one isn't about phones.

Make it a game

In The Lobbyist, everyone picks a side in secret, then one player is told to argue the side they didn't pick. You argue, you vote, and the phones show who was lying. Every question on this page is in Fuzzy Logic, the free deck, along with 124 more. How to play.