11.11.07
Ramblings of a Grammarian
The other day I made a culinary faux pas while cooking dinner. I added a bit too much cumin to a split pea dal I was preparing. I told my roommate that if it should prove inedible, it would be my own damned fault. I would have to admit that I’d had it ‘cumin,’ then desert my efforts and have just ‘desert.’
This led to a discussion of the spelling of “just deserts.” Many people seem to think that this phrase refers to the after dinner sweet it sounds like. But “the cake is a lie.” Actually, it refers to getting what one justly deserves. “Desert” in this sense is the nominal (noun) form of “deserve.” Thus my last comment was not a literalised metaphor, but a criminally bad pun.
And just to set the record straight, “come-uppins” are not a type of bread pudding. “Humble pie” in the original sense had nothing to do with humility. It is an actual thing made with the entrails–the “humbles”–of an animal, especially a deer. (With my excessive arrogance and repeated use of puns in this post, it sounds like the kind of dessert I’m worthy of.) Although one can argue that humbles historically being eaten by those of lower societal status would indicate some kind of etymological relation. I dunno, ask your philologist next time you go in for a checkup.
In any case, I ate my words with fork and spoon and my dal with some rice. It turned out just fine.
patricia said,
11.30.07 at 05:00
A,
This is hysterical, very, very funny.
What a pleasure to see another side of you, and so erudite!
Glad to know, too, that you are writing something!
PHM