Why is that? What, exactly, have I done to “deserve” a break today?

The thing I like best about etymology is not that it tells us what a word “really means.” [1] It is that it tells us how it got to where it is now—what it means to us—from where it was. In our modern use of “seduce,” for instance, we mean no more than “persuade,” where the “persuasion” has been to some view we disapprove of. But the -duce of “seduce” means to lead and the prefix se- means “aside” or “astray.” And the clear implication of “astray” is that there is a right way to go and the person in question is being led away from that right way. In “persuade,” we lose that picture entirely.

That’s why I like etymology.

That brings me to the modern meaning of “deserve.”[2] It is a wonderful thing to be able to argue that a hamburger (as in the McDonald’s use of the slogan we started with), something you will have to buy, is something you “deserve.” To the best of my knowledge, no one has yet argued that I ought to get mine free on the grounds that it is something I deserve. The question we are moving toward (just what is it you have done to deserve it?) gets a shortcut in this case because “having money” is what you have done. In simple commercial uses like this one, “deserve” and “afford” are nearly the same thing.

Would you be surprised to learn that at the beginning of its career as a word, the prefix de- meant only “fully, completely” and the root “-serve” meant what you think it means? The meaning of the prefix means something more specific in the context of service; it means “to serve well, zealously.” And a reward is coming to you because of your zealous and complete service. And this will be a reward that you (watch how this works) “de-serve.” Clearly de- does not mean un- in this context. The baron was granted all these lands by the king for his faithful service in the battle. That kind of de-serve.

Let’s play with this a little. I was told early in the days of my interest in etymology that “tip” as in “tipping the waiter” was built on the acronym T.I.P.—“to insure promptness.” [3] They don’t think anymore that that is the source of the word, but it does have the advantage of retaining the “reward for service” link. Think “You deserve a tip today.”

But a “break” is not a “tip.” What could one do to “deserve a break?” I would have much less difficulty with “would profit from a break.” Everyone has seen people doing hard physical labor (I am writing this during the NFL post-season) and doing a much better job after a rest. People who have to think hard similarly benefit or people who have to make difficult decisions. I saw a study in which judges handed out more lenient sentences after a lunch break, suggesting that those who are charged “get a break” whether they deserve it or not.

There is no denying the beneficial effects of a rest at the right time, but there is also no way to associate that break with the desert (deserving-ness) of the recipient. And if there were, it wouldn’t sell hamburgers or hair coloring kits, as the “I’m worth it” campaign imagines.

No, I think the best way to understand it is that people seem to like the broad implication that they are worthwhile persons and/or have done something meritorious. And if I am a really valuable person, then I deserve a break today and if I can afford it, bring that hamburger on. With fries. And a large drink.

[1] It is only an irony to be enjoyed that the word “etymology” means “true meaning.”
[2] And points out the loss of “desert” to mean “what one deserves.” It forces us to some patched-together form like “deservingness,” which really ought not to be necessary, but which really is. Trust me.
[3] The idea that “tip” meant “to insure promptness” is no older than 1909 and a reviewer said about the book in which it appeared “We deprecate the careless repetition of popular etymologies such as the notion that ‘tip’ originated from an abbreviated inscription on a box placed on the sideboard in old coaching-inns, the full meaning of which was ‘To Insure Promptitude.”