Linguofreak
Well-known member
Oh, sorry, didn't know this
Actually, it's quite understandable that you didn't know that, given that "desert" in that sense is rather old-fashioned, especially in those areas of the English-speaking world that have deserts (for instance, the US). While I do know that the word used to be used with that meaning, it's not in my vocabulary at all: It would never cross my mind to use it that way and would be most likely to misunderstand it upon hearing it used that way. I would always say "deserted".