Happy Doughnut Day! Or Happy Donut Day!

It seems that the ring-shaped doughy and sugary concoction has a spelling problem.

Or does it? Believe it or not, there is no one correct way to spell doughnut/donut. And in fact, both spellings are correct.

Originally, it was actually "doughnut," but people started using the shortened version - "donut" - back in the 1800s. At the time, Noah Webster (yes, as in Webster's Dictionary) believed in making spelling easier, so he often included simplified spellings in his dictionaries.

But the shortened spelling didn't catch on until much later. So what changed? Dunkin' Donuts opened up its first shop in 1950 and its spelling of the word caught on.

So which is used more now? In the United States, it's generally "donut," but in other parts of the world, writers still like "doughnut" more, and it's the version most style guides prefer.

A poll on the Times Union website shows that the rest of us prefer "donut" just a little more than "doughnut."

In the end, though, it doesn't matter how you spell it, only in how you eat it. It's also important to learn how to properly dunk it, but fortunately, actor Clark Gable showed us the correct dunking technique in It Happened One Night:

"Dunking's an art. Don't let it soak so long. A dip and - plop, into your mouth. If you let it soak so long, it'll get soft and fall off. It's all a matter of timing. I ought to write a book about it."

Photo: Ferry Sitompul | Flickr