just deserts
idiom

- if someone gets their just deserts, something bad happens to them that they deserve because of something bad they have done

- a punishment or reward that is considered to be what the recipient deserved

The Cambridge Dictionary / Wiktionary

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PHRASE ORIGIN

The phrase "just deserts" emerged in English in the late 16th century and is derived from the Old French word deservir (to deserve) — not to be confused with "a dessert," (the final course of a meal), or "a desert” (a barren, sandy place), or "to desert" someone or something (to abandon).

The word "just" acts as an adjective in "just deserts", giving the phrase the overall sense of "deserved retribution" or "deserved reward". Therefore, when you say someone has got their "just deserts," you're saying they have received the outcome they deserved, whether it's good or bad.

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THE JUST DESERTS OF SISYPHUS

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus, King of Corinth, became infamous for his general trickery. The displeased Zeus dealt him the eternal punishment of forever rolling a boulder up a mountain in the depths of Hades.

In his book 'The Philosophy of Recursive Thinking', German author Manfred Kopfer suggested a creative solution for Sisyphus’s punishment: every time he reaches the top of the mountain, he breaks off a stone from the mountain and carries it down to the lowest point. This way, the mountain will eventually be levelled and the stone cannot roll down anymore.

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SYNONYMS
a negative outcome which is justly deserved:

admonition, castigation, chastening, chastisement, comeuppance, damages, deserts, deserved fate, disciplinary action, dose of one’s own medicine, due reward, dues, hell to pay, JUST DESERTS, justice, just punishment, payback, penalization, penalties, penalty, poetic justice, punishment, punitive action (measure/s), rap, reparation, retaliation, retribution, retributive justice, revenge, vengeance, what’s coming to one (you), what is due (merited), what one is asking for (deserves)

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SMUGGLE OWAD into an English conversation, say something like:

“It’s comforting to believe that people who do bad things will someday receive their JUST DESERTS.”

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