My friend Jordan sent me this email today:
What’s wrong with this subject line?————— Forwarded message —————
From: The Daily Beast <emails@thedailybeast.com>
Date: Thu, Oct 13, 2011 at 3:42 PM
Subject: Cheat Sheet - Hedge-Fund Boss Gets His Just Deserts
To: JordanMy…
“Well, since you asked…
From the Newsweek/Daily Beast Copy Desk: “To quote from the dictionary we use, Webster’s New World College Dictionary, Fourth Edition: Desert (3rd entry as a noun, definition 2): deserved reward or punishment [to get one’s just deserts].”
Related: your tumblrs learned a new word today!”
Whoops, I made a mistake. I stand corrected. And I pissed off a Newsweek/Daily Beast copy editor in the process. I’m so used to seeing it used in that cliche desserts fashion and I admit I’ve never actually used the phrase myself. Grammar lesson learned! Seriously, so embarrassed right now.
“Cliche desserts fashion”? Or “cliched desserts fashion”?
