Certain sets of words in the English language tend to confuse people. I have found the following to be among them:
DESERTS / DESSERTS
Okay, this one is on me. We all know that desserts are sweet concoctions (or fruit), often served at the end of a meal. But though I’d heard the expression his just deserts all my life, I never noticed it written until recently.
Whoa! I thought. Is that a correct spelling with only one S in the middle? And so I looked it up, and yes, that word deserts, pronounced just like desserts but meaning what is deserved, does indeed have only one S in the middle.
I’ll admit I’d often wondered why someone should be getting delicious treats, or desserts, as a “reward” for doing something bad, but I rationalized that in this case “desserts” (as I saw it in my mind) must be like something Santa brings and puts in your stocking: if you’ve been good, you get a nice toy or candy; if you’ve been bad, you get a lump of coal instead.
Well, I was wrong. This particular noun desert (pronounced the same as the sweet after-dinner concoction but spelled the same as a vast, dry land, such as the Sahara) means deserved reward or punishment and is often used in the plural.
INCORRECT: The thief has been caught and will no doubt receive his just desserts.
CORRECT: The thief has been caught and will no doubt receive his just deserts.
INCORRECT: Does the restaurant have any deserts on the menu?
CORRECT: Does the restaurant have any desserts on the menu?
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