Revised as of
7 Nov 2022
Every time I see desert used when the author obviously means dessert, well, I get dry mouth. And I get that gritty feeling in my teeth.
Worse, that gritty, sandy feeling migrates to cracks and crevices in my body. I just gotta take a shower after “eating” that desert — gets rid of the dry feeling in my mouth and all those clinging sand particles.
Word Confusions . . .
. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.
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| Desert | Dessert | |
|---|---|---|
Hiking Trail is in the public domain, via PxHere. — This looks like a desert. |
Baked Cheesecake with Raspberries and Blueberries by zingyyellow (originally posted to Flickr as Baked Cheesecake) is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons. — Oh yeah, this is my idea of a dessert. |
|
| Part of Grammar: | ||
| Adjective 2; Noun 1, 2; Verb 3, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun: deserts Third person present verb: deserts |
Noun
Plural: desserts |
|
| Adjective: Uninhabited, desolate 2 Noun: A dry, barren area of land, typically covered in sand 2
Verb, intransitive: Verb, transitive:
|
Sweet course eaten at the end of a meal
What Mom or Dad usually threaten to withhold if someone doesn’t behave! |
|
| Examples: | ||
| Adjective: Overgrazing has created desert conditions. Noun: The interior of Iceland is an ice desert. This place is a cultural desert. Verb, intransitive: Did Johnson desert? Johnson and Edwards deserted. Verb, transitive: Good weather came after the summer hordes had deserted the beaches. The lobby of the hotel was virtually deserted. Her luck deserted her. |
I’m having the chocolate cake for dessert!
What would everyone like for dessert? The dessert menu here is fabulous! |
|
| Derivatives: | ||
| Adjective: desertic, desertlike Adverb: desertedly Noun: desertedness, deserter, predeserter |
||
| History of the Word: | ||
13th century
|
Mid-16th century from the French as a past participle of desservir, or clear the table. Although, how that became a sweets course . . . | |
C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!
Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.
Resources for Desert versus Dessert
Apple Dictionary.com
Pinterest Photo Credits
A Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy Before Sunset by ESO/B. Tafreshi under the CC BY 4.0 license, via Wikimedia Commons, and Libbey 14034021 – 9-1/8 Oz. Ice Cream Sundae Dish is courtesy of Zesco.
Hey Kd, have you been receiving the latest posts from my blog? I went to a self-hosted site but Im not sure if my wordpress followers are receiving the newer notifications. Please let me know!
I don’t think I have. I had some horrible email problems and have been so busy trying to catch up that I haven’t been paying attention to the mail I expect to see. But, now that you mention it…eek!
Okay. I just posted a new one. Did you get notification of that?