There are puzzling chicken questions like “why did it cross the road?” and “did it come first before the egg?” The answers are as debatable as this other fowl perplexity.

Chicken restaurant chain Popeyes tried to settle the social media debate on whether or not boneless wings are real wings by offering thousands of X users codes for free six-piece boneless wings on National Fried Chicken Day last 6 July.

“Popeyes says they hope giving away the boneless wings will turn doubters into boneless believers,” Fox 2 reported.

A related question is whether or not boneless chicken wings have bones. That was supposed to be settled back in 2016 after what happened to Michael Berkheimer of Hamilton, Ohio, USA.

The man was injured while eating a boneless wing at the restaurant Wings on Brookwood. A part of a wishbone became lodged in his throat and punctured his esophagus, he recalled, according to WECT News.

A throat infection followed as “everything he ingested then started exiting through the hole and into his chest cavity.” Berkheimer said that he suffered fevers, a heart attack and a collapsed lung that required placing him in an induced coma twice.

Berkheimer later sued the restaurant for negligence and for failing to warn him that the boneless wings could in fact contain bones. The case was dismissed by a court so his lawyer, Rob Stokar, appealed. The case reached the Ohio Supreme Court (OSC), which upheld the lower court’s ruling via a narrow 4-3 vote on 25 July.

“The patron should have been on guard against bones since it’s common knowledge that chickens have bones,” the OSC ruled. The dissenting justices argued that “parents in this country who feed their young children boneless wings or chicken tenders or chicken nuggets or chicken fingers” don’t expect bones to be in the chicken, New York Post (NYP) reports.

When they read the word “boneless,” they think that it means “without bones,” as do all sensible people, the dissenting justices said, adding that the case should have been brought before a jury for decision, according to NYP.

State Senator Bill DeMora objected to the OSC’s decision and said he was introducing legislation to ensure that anyone in a similar circumstance can state their case to a jury, WECT News reports.

“It (ruling) was outrageous. It lacked all common sense. Instead of appeal judges making the decision, now people would get their day in court,” WECT News quoted the senator as saying.

Despite the OSC’s judgment, the bony issue remains unsettled pending a jury decision.

WJG @tribunephl_wjg