Is it just desserts or just deserts? Gina from Harvest, Alabama, says that when using this phrase, she’d always pictured dessert, as in “the treat someone deserves,” but the correct term is indeed just deserts. This particular desert isn’t an arid place, however. This desert is an old noun coming from French, which means “something deserved.” The after-dinner dessert, on the other hand, is from an entirely different French word meaning “to clear the table,” which is what happens before those last sweet treats are set out. This is part of a complete episode.
Transcript of ““Just Deserts” or “Just Desserts”?”
Gina Bradshaw from Harvest Alabama emailed us with a question.
I’ve heard the phrase just dessert many times, and in my mind, I thought it was spelled d e s s e r t, as in someone getting the dessert or treat they deserved good or bad.
But I recently read the phrase and noticed it was spelled d e s e r t, like an arid place with little precipitation.
Have I been mentally spelling this wrong my whole life?
Well, Gina can relax and not worry about it because that is an incredibly common confusion.
A lot of people aren’t quite sure what that dessert is in there in the middle.
Is it the food?
Is it a dry place?
Is it something else?
It is what you deserve.
It’s…
Yeah.
The word des…
Dessert is a very old noun that means something deserved.
It comes from French, from a French word that means to deserve.
So when we have our just desserts, we…
If there is justice in the world, we are getting what we deserve.
So it’s a third word, a third dessert.
That’s right.
And the dessert that means what you have after dinner comes from a different French word that means to clear the table.
Oh, like to deservice, basically, take everything off.
Because that’s what you traditionally would do in a more, you know, sophisticated meal environment.
You take off the main plates and maybe bring out the cognac and some sweets at the end.
Right.
Right.
So it’s a very understandable confusion.
But…
Yeah.
Just Desserts has one s in the middle.
English is confusing, but it is a heck of a lot of fun to sort out.
And that’s what Martha and I are here for, not just English, but any language you wanna toss at us.
We’ll give it a go.
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