[Qwinn]

It's quite a good article, the only thing that kept bugging me was what -seemed- to me to be a repeated and incorrect use of the word "desert", in the context of "personal responsibility and desert".

All I could think of was Inigo Montoya's "You keep using that word, I do not think it means what you think it means".

Is this some alternative definition of the word that's appropriate in England that I am unaware of, or something like that?

Qwinn

[spodefly]

Main Entry: ³de·sert
Pronunciation: di-'z&rt
Function: noun
Etymology: Middle English deserte, from Old French, from feminine of desert, past participle of deservir to deserve
1 : the quality or fact of deserving reward or punishment
2 : deserved reward or punishment -- usually used in plural <got their just deserts>
3 : EXCELLENCE, WORTH

[DeFault User]

desert NOUN: 1. Something that is deserved or merited, especially a punishment. Often used in the plural: They got their just deserts when the scheme was finally uncovered. 2. The state or fact of deserving reward or punishment.

I've usually heard it in the plural too, such as the example above, not normally in the singular.

[litany_of_lies]

I also learned a new word today. And all along I thought "just deserts" had two s's! (oops)

[Dr. Faust]

I believe he is using the word desert as meaning justly deserved. To a conservative, if you earn something through your work and effort, it is your "just desert".

To a liberal it means you're a privileged white male!