just deserts
Featured
Fossil Word
April 17, 2025
Fossil Word
We all love desert, even multiple deserts like ice cream. But deserts in just deserts means 'what is deserved or due' and we only ever use that meaning after the word just. This meaning of deserts is a fossil.
Rate of Appearance in English Language Print
Google's Ngram project shows how often a pair of words has appeared in print every year since the 1800's.
Data from Google Books Ngram Viewer. Licensed under CC BY 3.0.
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