Just Deserts vs. Just Desserts

Just Deserts vs. Just Desserts Just Deserts vs. Just Desserts Just Deserts vs. Just Desserts By Maeve Maddox The use of the expression â€Å"just deserts† in a recent DWT exercise brought some reader objections. Here are two: She got her just deserts really? â€Å"Desert†Ã‚  like an arid place? Isnt it desserts? You are surely incorrect. The correct form of the expression is â€Å"just desserts.† Many speakers think that people who get what they deserve get dessert, unaware that there’s another noun pronounced like dessert but spelled with one s: desert [deh-ZERT]. Here are three kinds of desert: desert [DEZ-ert] (noun): an arid place desert [deh-ZERT] (verb): to abandon desert [deh-ZERT] (noun): worthiness of recompense Desert [DEZ-ert] in the sense of a wasteland or wilderness came into English by way of French from Latin  desertum, â€Å"thing abandoned.† Desertum is used in the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible to translate the word for â€Å"wilderness.† Dessert [deh-ZERT] in the sense of the last course of a meal is from French  desservir, â€Å"to clear the table,† literally, â€Å"to un-serve.† The dessert comes at the end of the meal when the table has been cleared of everything that went before. Desert [deh-ZERT] in the sense of consequences comes from French  deservir, â€Å"to be worthy to have,† or â€Å"to deserve,† from Latin  deservire, â€Å"to serve well.† One reader explained why she’s reluctant to accept the correct spelling of the expression: My interpretation of â€Å"just desserts† was that â€Å"dessert† was the sweet stuff at the end of a meal†¦cake, ice cream, etc. So â€Å"just desserts† was you got the dessert you deserved, meaning you didn’t get the sweet stuff or you got something less than sweet. The expression â€Å"Just Desserts† is often used deliberately as a marketing pun for the selling of baked goods, but there are plenty of unintentional errors among the examples that come up in a Web search: In the end she turns on him, but also gets her just desserts when the mob’s lawyer finally sees the light. –The Rotarian (magazine). Woman driver gets her just desserts –Video blog A serial Czech  prankster got his just desserts  after pals spooked him with a hilarious specter stunt.  Ã¢â‚¬â€œNY Daily News The error even appears in books from reputable publishers: He should have been pleased that Ralph Standishhad got his just desserts. –A Parliament of Spies, Cassandra Clark, Minotaur 2012, p. 221. Note: The character Standish is a bad man who has been found murdered. Corrected examples: In the end she turns on him, but also gets her just deserts when the mob’s lawyer finally sees the light. Woman driver gets her just deserts A serial Czech  prankster got his just deserts  after pals spooked him with a hilarious specter stunt.   He should have been pleased that Ralph Standishhad got his just deserts. Although the expression is most frequently used to refer to a deserved punishment, it can also refer to a deserved reward. For example the following headline from the Oye! Times (Toronto) uses the expression in a positive sense. [The actor mentioned has been honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame]: CHRISTOPH WALTZ GETS HIS JUST DESSERTS [sic] Bottom line: Ice cream and chocolate cake are desserts. People who get what’s coming to them get their just  deserts. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:7 Examples of Passive Voice (And How To Fix Them)In Search of a 4-Dot EllipsisThe Difference Between "Shade" and "Shadow"