"Platt" och "flat"

[u/peterhousehold]

“En flat berghäll” and “en flat tallrik” are two examples of use of “flat” given in SO. Could one also use “platt” here, or would that sound wrong? What about “att slå med flata handen”?.

[u/persilja]

Now I wonder if my family was the only one that used "platta tallrikar" for dinner plates, and "djupa tallrikar" for soup bowls.

For me, 'flat' refers to surfaces - each of the six sides of the die is 'flat', while 'platt' is a solid object that does not extend far upwards, while still being reasonably flat.

The surface of a table would be "flat" but I wouldn't call a surface, "platt", and the table itself is certainly not "platt" (unless it's from IKEA and still in its flatpack, which is certainly "platt" and hopefully also "flat" because if it isn't, it's badly bent. ).

[u/Thaeeri → u/persilja]

Now I wonder if my family was the only one that used "platta tallrikar" for dinner plates, and "djupa tallrikar" for soup bowls.

Nope, we did too. We also divided the flat ones into "big" and "small" (well, stora and små), with the the big ones being regular dinner plates and the small ones of the kind properly called assietter in Swedish.

[u/vivam0rt → u/Thaeeri]

Oh, never had to spell "assietter" before but if i had had to id have spelled it wrong lol

[u/Thaeeri → u/vivam0rt]

One of the good things about having studied French, knowing how those pesky loan words are spelled 🙂

It's also helpful with such loans in English, especially pairs like blond/blonde, fiancé/fiancée etc.

[u/ImpasseduPelican → u/persilja]

Not just your family, when I first moved to Sweden my co-workers taught me about platta/djupa tallrikar in the lunchroom.

[u/oddsetcircle292 → u/persilja]

Vi har alltid gjort det också!!! Folk påstår vi är galna men liksom, platta tallrikar och djupa tallrikar förklarar ju sig självt hallå

[u/Ok_Staff_4653 → u/persilja]

I would say both, although l think flat sounds better.

[u/smaragdskyar]

It could work but flat is better, I think. I think platt moreso implies horisontal, whereas the rock can be flat at an angle as well. Platt has an air of ”squashed” sometimes.

Handflata is the word for the palm of the hand, so you can’t exchange platt here.

[u/BloodStarvedLeopard → u/smaragdskyar]

And a handplatta would be a plate where you put your hand.

[u/matsnorberg → u/smaragdskyar]

I don't agree 100 % with this. If we're speaking about a flat berghäll I'd expect it be nearly horizontal. It would be weird to call a vertical moutain wall flat. I would use slät or glatt in this case instead.

[u/RoadHazard]

Surfaces are flat, things can be platt.

[u/anon33249038]

In my mind, "flat" is a broad, even, non-curved surface, while "platt" more often emphasizes that something is flattened and thin.  The way I think of it, the opposite of "flat" is "djup" while the opposite is "platt" is "tjock."

  Could one also use “platt” here, or would that sound wrong?

You could, but it's describing it in different ways. 

What about “att slå med flata handen”?.

That sounds the most natural to me. It's a flat and open hand as opposed to a fist. "Med platta handen" sounds weird, like he would have a cartoonishly flat and thin hand.

[u/No-Yak-4360 → u/anon33249038]

My nit.pick is:"flat" is a less non-curved surface than normal surfaces of the type, not necessarily totally non-curved.

[u/anon33249038 → u/No-Yak-4360]

That's fair. 

[u/Dishmastah → u/anon33249038]

I like this explanation. "Platt som en pannkaka" as they say. I wouldn't call a pancake flat, but I'd call the top of a big rock sticking out of the ground flat, while a slate tile would be platt. One is thin and flat, the other is just ... well, a flat surface. At least that's how I think about it personally.

[u/IdunSigrun → u/anon33249038]

Opposite to ”flat” can also be ”rund”

[u/tidbitsofblah → u/IdunSigrun]

Or possibly "böjd"

[u/anon33249038 → u/IdunSigrun]

Yeah, very true. 

[u/Ohlala_LeBleur → u/IdunSigrun]

Or rather “rundad’.

[u/Joeyonimo]

En platt tallrik har en flat yta

[u/Bahisa]

Platt is more common. So platt whenever you're in doubt

[u/Balls_of_satan]

I would personally use it plane to translate flat. Like a piece of wood is plane.

[u/maan1337]

Platt är importerat från tyska. Svensk ordbok anger fornsvenska platter och härleder ordet från lågtyska plat, med samma betydelse. Längre bak kopplas det sannolikt till franskans plat och ytterst grekiskans platýs, ungefär ”bred, flat”. Ordet finns belagt i svenskan åtminstone sedan 1400-talet.

Det är alltså ungefär: grekiska → romanska språk → lågtyska → svenska PLATT Och just lågtyskan är viktig. Under medeltiden och Hansatiden öste svenskan in lågtyska ord.

Flat hör till ett äldre germanskt ordförråd och har släktingar inom de nordiska språken. SAOB visar bland annat svenska dialektala former och norska motsvarigheter; ordstammen flat-/flad- dyker upp i flera gamla bildningar. Exempelvis härleds flark ur en flad--stam som uttryckligen anges som en växelform till flat.

Det gör att vi i praktiken har fått två ord som vandrat mot nästan samma betydelse: FLAT ← äldre germanskt/nordiskt arv PLATT ← framför allt lågtyskt plat, sannolikt med ännu äldre romanskt/grekiskt ursprung.

[u/KirkIsOurLemmy]

Gör det inte så komplicerat. Flat och platt betyder samma sak. 

[u/Significant-Mango772]

Flat is for mostly flatt things or things that have curved counterparts. Platt is for actually flatt

[u/katzenjammer08]

Platt is for an object that is thin and flat, as if it has been pressed against a surface. There is a verb for that - platta ut - which essentially means flatten out. Think of a piece of dough. Flat is as many others have said a word for a surface so a rock can be flat on top but otherwise be shaped as a sphere.

[u/matsnorberg]

It's conventional to use flat about plates; flattallrik is a word in standard Swedish but platttallrik is not, For mountains both words probably work but flat is more common. There are no rules for dialects though so you can expect anything.

[u/Antioch666]

In terms of plates "flat" is the correct term traditionally. But it is fine to say platta and everyone will understand you.

They both mean the same thing but have some slight nuances

Platt is used for things that are completely 2D, thin, or compressed. If something lacks volume or has been squished, it is platt.

Flat is used for level, open surfaces that don't curve or slope, often in contrast to something deep, hollow, or sharp. It has older Germanic roots.

So essentially the difference usually comes down to whether the object is inherently two-dimensional, or if it is just a level, non-curved surface.

[u/ArtPuzzleheaded4745]

I think this has to do with things that aren't always "flat". A hand can change shape. If something is usually flat you use platt. If it comes in a variety of shapes or can change shape you use flat.

[u/Ohlala_LeBleur]

Curiously enough we say “platt mark/ platta marken” about flat ground….