Japan is an amazing place and the Japanese borrow words from English and other languages with surprising ease and willingness.
Usually they get it mostly right, but sometimes is goes astray. Like "grand opening" is efficiently, but awkwardly shortened to "grand open".
So I was not that wide-eyed to see a rather amusing use of English at my local Japanese supermarket, Isetan on Orchard Road. They were selling cakes and I think the photo tells it all.
After my intense weekend, I am certainly ravenous - good for soaking up the alcohol - and feeling fruity in any case.
Which reminds me of something I learned the other day about "desserts" and getting ones just deserved puddings. I had assumed that the expression "just deserts" had something to do with getting a nice sweet ending to something - but if you think about it that is strange because the terms is usually applied to someone who has done something less than generous or even something quite evil; thus nemesis will take her revenge on the offender. Also, the spelling seems wrong - two "s"s for sweets and one "s" for sandy or arid places (occasionally interspersed with the odd oasis).
But actually, although the pronunciation is the same for both "desserts" and "just deserts", the latter is correctly spelled - coming from the same route as "to deserve". QED: he will get what he just deserves.
Nice no?
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