Strictly speaking to plat is to map a piece of land. It is the specification record for property lines. Where it gets confusing is when someone says that a plat defines a plot of land.
The truth is that the two words came from the same source word which was French and the name for the flat surface of a sword or a flat surface of land. With this designation, the word plat entered into English and being English (not American), the A in the word was pronounced “ah.”
Plot coming from the same origin (for some definitions) began life as an alternate spelling of plat. You can plot a route using a chart (plat). You can use this word to create a diagram or chart which marks a number of points on a graph.
Pronunciation is essentially the same whether in English or American speech. Now you see the problem. The two words seem to sound alike and seem to mean the same.
However, you cannot use plat for a conspiracy or play (drama, movie). These requires a “plot.” This use of the word plot has a murky beginning and is probably not from the same source as that of “plat.”
Have I thoroughly confused you? Well, welcome aboard. I find it confusing, too. The only use I have for plat in my ordinary life is in crossword puzzles. As for plot, well I am a writer after all, take a guess.
My final words to you: May you never have to go to court using a plat to keep your land, and may you never be the victim of an evil plot. Otherwise, plot and plat as the needs arise.
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“ETERNAL CYCLE” was found in the poet’s papers. It appears this week along with “Lyric for Weekdays,” and even the essay featured in Kaleidoscope because they all in one way or another reflect how cycles, repetitions, affect our lives.
KALEIDOSCOPE— essays by Kathleen Roxby
“THE CURSE OF TEACHING ENGLISH” is a recent essay prompted as she says by a poem she found when searching the web. Her years as an English teacher in junior high school, as well as the early at home training she received from her mother, robbed her of the flexibility to accept what she continues to view as errors in speech.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“LYRIC FOR WEEKDAYS” was chosen to accompany “Eternal Cycle.” It is the author’s attempt to update the nursery rhyme/song she learned from her grandmother.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR JULY 2023
PLAT VERSUS PLOT
Strictly speaking to plat is to map a piece of land. It is the specification record for property lines. Where it gets confusing is when someone says that a plat defines a plot of land.
The truth is that the two words came from the same source word which was French and the name for the flat surface of a sword or a flat surface of land. With this designation, the word plat entered into English and being English (not American), the A in the word was pronounced “ah.”
Plot coming from the same origin (for some definitions) began life as an alternate spelling of plat. You can plot a route using a chart (plat). You can use this word to create a diagram or chart which marks a number of points on a graph.
Pronunciation is essentially the same whether in English or American speech. Now you see the problem. The two words seem to sound alike and seem to mean the same.
However, you cannot use plat for a conspiracy or play (drama, movie). These requires a “plot.” This use of the word plot has a murky beginning and is probably not from the same source as that of “plat.”
Have I thoroughly confused you? Well, welcome aboard. I find it confusing, too. The only use I have for plat in my ordinary life is in crossword puzzles. As for plot, well I am a writer after all, take a guess.
My final words to you: May you never have to go to court using a plat to keep your land, and may you never be the victim of an evil plot. Otherwise, plot and plat as the needs arise.
RIDING THE EARTH
I heard today the tide does not roll in.
The Earth itself rolls forward and away
Allowing the oceans to slide above
As if rising higher by sheer will or moon pull.
I am stunned to think it is me, standing still
On the sand, sliding toward the sea
Moving slowly to the East or West
Until the sea touches my toes
And never know I am riding that great force–
The Earth in its daily rotation.
THERE IS A LAND STILL UNPOSSESSED
Rocky flatland bows
To a wild, willful wind
Spasmodic clumps of green
Hot yellow sun burns
AUTHOR NOTES
GLASS RAIN—the poetry by Margaret Roxby
“THERE IS A LAND STILL UNPOSSESSED” was found in the poet’s papers. The author was fascinated by the possibilities of other worlds.
KALEIDOSCOPE— essay by Kathleen Roxby
“PLAT versus PLOT” continues the author’s series on the oddities of the English language. It was chosen this week as a prosaic counterpart to the poem in GLASS RAIN.
THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS—the poetry of Kathleen Roxby
“RIDING THE EARTH” was written after hearing this idea expressed in a discussion of tides and the rotation of the Earth.
SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
Readers who write in response to one of the prompts listed each month in Splintered Glass, may see their work presented here on the last week of that month. Though poems are preferred, short prose work will also be considered for publication.
Guidelines for submission:
SPLINTERS FOR JULY 2023
THE GIRL AND THE TREE
Her bare arms clasped the tree,
Its rugged bark pressed sharply
Against her skin.
Deep in the forest,
Tree and girl were one.
No other voice but hers
Stirred the fragrant air.
She tightened her hold
The solid roughness a biting pain
But better than the pain within.
The tree absorbed her tears
Unmoved, unchanged.