Dessert vs. sweet

We can use the word ‘sweet’ and ‘dessert’ interchangeably, but then why can’t we say ‘dessert tooth’ in place of ‘sweet tooth’? And what about wishing someone ‘dessert dreams’ instead of ‘sweet dreams’? The question is how come the word ‘sweet’ became a part of common language and also found place in some idioms, while the word ‘dessert’ remained behind.

Etymology can be of some help here. As ‘sweet’ comes from a Germanic source, this word has been a part of English language since the beginning. Alternatively, the word ‘dessert’ became a part of the English language much later. Let’s talk about an episode from the British history to draw connections between the two words.

After the Norman Conquest of England in 1066, French became the official language. It was not easy for the indigenous Anglo-Saxons to switch to French; they continued speaking a Germanic language which was totally different from the newly-introduced French. Hence, French became more popular among the elite.

Later on, the local language adopted French vocabulary and evolved into a new language called the ‘Old English’. Since French was the language of the elite, the words with French roots ended up having a more literary connotation attached to them, while the Germanic words were simple. ‘Dessert’ and ‘sweet’ are example of this phenomenon; the idea is that the fancier ones derive its roots from French and the common ones come from Germanic.

Interestingly, English even has doubles for some names of the animals. In the farms, what is sheep, cow and deer becomes mutton, beef and venison on the dining table. This is because the farms were run by the Anglo-Saxon peasants who kept using old Germanic words for the animals, while the dining tables belonged to Norman elites who used French terms for the animals. Other examples include folks and people, want and desire, buy and purchase, belly and stomach, etc.

However, in some cases you might find words with Germanic roots more literary. For example, deem vs. judge, blossom vs. flower and seethe vs. boil. Some Victorian poets can be given the credit for bringing back the original English words through their poetry.

This phenomenon is not much different from the way Urdu evolved during the Mughal era. In its current form, it is an amalgamation of different languages, including Turkish and Farsi. With time, fancier Farsi words were incorporated into the local language, Hindi, and thus Urdu emerged. Even today, we have double words in Urdu. The ones having a colloquial feeling are more likely to be from Hindi roots while the ones having a literary feeling are Farsi. For example, ‘dance’ could be either naach (derived from Hindi) or raqs (borrowed from Farsi) in Urdu, and you know well the meanings these words connote.

Coming back to the ‘dessert’ vs. ‘sweet’ debate, the former came from French word desservir that literally meant ‘to clear the table’. The dessert is served after clearing the dinner table, so this makes sense, no? The latter, on the other hand, came from the Old English word ‘sweet’ which meant ‘something having a pleasant disposition’. This explains the ‘pleasant’ sense of the word in a number of idioms.

Sweet or dessert, we love it. And whether it is made the Anglo Saxon way or the French way, I will enjoy it equally.