Please simplify the meaning

Question

'What is lotted cannot be blotted' I don't understand the meaning of this phrase. Please simplify it.

Blue Jay · Accepted Answer

I don't understand it either. I don't believe I've ever heard it before. Where did you find it? Are you sure the sentence is quoted correctly?

Lot is rarely used as a verb. It is occasionally used as a verb to describe separating items into lots to be sold at auction, or dividing a piece of land into lots to be sold separately for building houses on, but this doesn't seem to fit the context of your phrase.

To blot can mean to dry something (such as ink) by dabbing it with an absorbent material (such as blotting paper). It can also mean to hide something by covering it with ink or paint, or to remove something from one's memory.

The thought occurs to me that lot can also mean something like destiny or fate. In this sense it's not usually used as a verb, though there is a verb allot. If this is the sense of lot that is intended, I suppose it could be meant to signify something like "You can't change fate".

Khoff · Answer

It doesn't mean anything to me. "Blotted" could mean "blotted out" or "erased," but "lotted" doesn't mean anything, as far as I know. Could it be "allotted"? That still doesn't make much sense, but at least it's a real verb. If that's the case, I suppose it could mean something like "what is given cannot be removed." What's the context? Where did you see/hear it?

CalifJim · Answer

It's cryptic, but I think it's a play on What is done cannot be undone and therefore means the same thing.

More context would help.

CJ

AlpheccaStars · Answer

I've never heard that expression. It is opaque to me.

Please simplify the meaning

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