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Comment by echion | Hacker News Reader

First, the article is a great explanation of what's going on. "Maturity Transformation" explains the cause. "Trying to forestall a banking crisis" is a great discussion of the important next stage of the non-headline-grabbing solution.

Just wondering about this "desert" word, in context:

> I am very frustrated by political arguments about desert, which start with an enemies list and celebrate when the enemies suffer misfortune for their sins like using the banking system.

Anyone know what "desert" refers to?

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A deserving; that which makes one deserving of reward or punishment; merit or demerit; good conferred, or evil inflicted, which merits an equivalent return: as, to reward or punish men according to their deserts.

"Just deserts" is a common phrase that uses it in the same way.

Oh wow. I (non-native) never realized it only had one s, I always assumed it was "just desserts", as in, you are getting the dessert you deserve, after the food (the evil you did) :D

If I was on Who Wants to be a Millionaire, I would've picked "just desserts" as my final answer without hesitation. TIL

I (native) also did not realize this.

Native English speaker here too.

TWL (Today We Learned)

I always assumed it was one one of those odd manglings that gained traction, like irregardless.

Apparently it's spelled "deserts" and pronounced "desserts"

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/just-deserts-o...

Yes. That's why people think it's "desserts."

> > > > I am very frustrated by political arguments about desert

> > > What does "desert" mean here

> A deserving [...] merit

Thanks. As a native speaker aware of "desert"'s multiple meanings and "just deserts", I think "merit", "deservedness", "appropriateness" would have been much clearer choices here. Perhaps the jarring note alone (of "desert" in this context) should have clued me in that an unusual usage was in play. Thanks again for the clarification.

desert i don't think means deserving. It comes from the latin desertus which means to "make barren or empty/forsake". I think in this context it means to have something fail or be abandoned at a critical moment.

The person you’re replying to is correct - “desert” is in some contexts an old word that’s pronounced like “dessert” but spelled with one “s” that means “the punishment that one deserves”.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/words-at-play/just-deserts-o...

Also, "desert" as the present tense of "deserted". As in "All my friends have deserted me." Or, "The Sgt. Major punished the deserter."

https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/desert

Per Merriam-Webster, which for the benefit of international HNers I will mention is a well-known English dictionary: “the quality or fact of meriting reward or punishment”

This seems like a good opportunity to plug the American Heritage Dictionary, which in my experience is at least a couple notches better than Merriam-Webster despite their website being stuck in 1999 (maybe that's a good thing?)

https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=desert

de·sert (dĭ-zûrt)

1. (often "deserts") Something that is deserved or merited, especially a punishment: They got their just deserts when the scheme was finally uncovered.

2. The state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.

Also a good opportunity to plug Webster's original English dictionary, which has a lot of very florid and evocative definitions that make it much more fun to open a dictionary https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Dictionary/desert

> DESERT, noun > > 1. A deserving; that which gives a right to reward or demands, or which renders liable to punishment; merit or demerit; that which entitles to a recompense of equal to the offense; good conferred, or evil done, which merits an equivalent return. A wise legislature will reward or punish men according to their deserts. > > 2. That which is deserved; reward or punishment merited. In a future life, every man will receive his desert

S/o to https://jsomers.net/blog/dictionary for opening my eyes here

I think it's interesting that their treatment of singular they is more thorough than Merriam-Webster's, manages to address people on the dissenting side with some empathy, and still recognizes that its widespread usage[0] means it would be silly to not include that usage.

https://ahdictionary.com/word/search.html?q=they

[0] To the point that even people complaining about it use singular they in their complaints without realizing it.

It should refer to "desert" as in "to deserve". Desert arguments typically ascribe a certain sort of moral responsibility on certain persons and them being liable to negative consequences in light of that ascription.

"desert" means something one deserves. You probably know it in the idiom "just deserts".

Ha! I just learnt something new. Always thought it was desserts with two S's, but seems that my version is a pun that is slipping into general usage: https://blog.oup.com/2007/07/eggcorn/

I knew the idiom, I just didn’t make the connection for some reason. Very interesting, the text is very close, but I didn’t get it.

I believe this is a British person saying “during dessert”?

Nope, guess not.

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