This or That: Is it 'donut' or 'doughnut'?
Happy National Doughnut Day! Or is it donut?
Americans have been celebrating the deep-fried, sugar-coated pastry on the first Friday of June since 1938, but they can't seem to agree on how to spell the name of the tasty treat.
Even local and national bakeries are out of sync: Mojo Monkey, Glam Doll and Dunkin' Donuts all use the shortened form, while Bogart's and Krispy Kreme use "doughnut."
Grammarist explains the rise of "donut":
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The shortened donut has been around since the late 1800s, but it wasn't popularized until the late 20th century, when the successful American doughnut chain Dunkin' Donuts made it ubiquitous. Today, writers outside the U.S. still favor doughnut by a wide margin. Donut appears about a third of the time in published American writing.
Donut is a simpler spelling, so it may grow even more common now that it has a foothold.
The official (and traditional) spelling in the dictionary is "doughnut," with the shorter form listed as a variant. But Merriam-Webster says it's also OK to spell it "donut," because it has appeared in multiple publications and is "at this point a fully accepted spelling."
For what it's worth, The Associated Press style guide, which several news organizations — including MPR News — follow, is sticking with "doughnut."
That is, at least, for now. The AP recently announced it is no longer capitalizing "internet" and "web" to reflect evolving usage. Who knows what's next!
So, which are you? Team Donut or Team Doughnut?