Of Desert, Dessert and Desert

 Of Desert, Dessert and Desert

Over the past month, I’ve been reading Charles Dickens’ American Notes, his journal of experiences in and impressions of America during his first trip to our country in 1842. By that time, he was a thirty-year-old pop sensation. In his concluding remarks, I came across this statement about the pervasively negative influence of our press upon the populace: “When any man, of any grade of desert in intellect or character, can climb to any public distinction, no matter what, in America, without first grovelling down upon the earth, and bending the knee before this monster of depravity [i.e. newspapers] . . . then, I will believe that its influence is lessening, and men are returned to their manly senses.”

Dickens’ statement about the American press is still true today, but what piqued my interest as I read this passage was the word desert, by which Dickens meant something deserved or merited. It has the same pronunciation as dessert, the sweet food often served as the last course of a meal. When I looked up desert in a dictionary, I discovered that it and its companion, dessert, provide interesting examples of homonyms, homographs, and homophones. 

Dessert and desèrt (to abandon; and something deserved or merited: i.e. one’s just deserts) are homophones—words that sound alike but are spelled differently. Désert (an arid area), desèrt (to abandon someone) and desèrt (something deserved or merited) are homographs—words that are spelled the same but have different meanings. Desèrt (something deserved or merited) and desèrt (to abandon) are homonyms—words having the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings and origins. 

One reason this group of words is interesting to me is that I’m working with English language learners who want to improve their knowledge and use of our language. I enjoy discussing some of the unusual features of American English with them, so Dickens’ use of the word desèrt prompted me to do some research. One author prefaced his comments on the difference between desert, dessert, and desert with this observation: “The English language is a minefield where spelling and pronunciation are concerned. It’s no wonder it’s one of the most difficult languages to learn.”

The cluster of words under consideration isn’t on the top of my list to bring to the attention of my language partners, especially early on; yet, it is important to discuss homophones, homographs and homonyms as they arise during our conversations. 

So my real interest here is the word desèrt in the sense Dickens used it. I love words and I love to play with them, and when I saw Dickens using a familiar word in an unfamiliar way, I was hooked. I don't remember seeing or hearing desèrt used in this way except in the sense of someone receiving his just deserts; and, honestly, since I am spelling-challenged, I would have spelled that word desserts. In fact the Google docs spell-check urges me to spell it that way. And at least one website says that, in spite of the origin of the phrase (1275-1325; Middle English < Old French deserte), just desserts is acceptable now since it is more common than just deserts in twenty-first century texts. I guess I have a lot of company in the “fellowship of challenged spellers.”

Interestingly, later in his “Concluding Remarks,” Dickens writes that if there were an established religion in America, we would desert it. I don’t recall that Dickens commented on American desserts in his journal of the roughly four-month tour of America, but he did consider the possibility that Americans could have a “grade of desert in intellect or character” and of our propensity to desert an established church if such a thing existed. 

If I ever fully understand the nuances of desert, dessert and desert, I might try to understand this grammatically correct sentence: “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo,” used in 1972 by William J. Rapaport, professor at (you guessed it) the University of Buffalo, in Buffalo, NY.

© Stan Bohall

June 14, 2021