If you look up the word “chart” in a dictionary, you will find the following among the definitions: “a map” (using the word as a noun) and “to map” (using the word as a verb). One textbook I remember from elementary school began with the story of Christopher Columbus and the age of European exploration into what we once called “the New World.” I especially remember a picture of the “known” world in the 15th century (or perhaps earlier), which depicted unmapped areas on the edges of known land and ocean as the home of sea monsters. Most sailors of the day avoided unmapped, or uncharted, territory. They believed they could sail off the earth’s edge or be attacked by the sea monsters. We have used expressions such as “unprecedented” and “uncharted territory” a lot in the past few years. But I’ve noticed lately that “uncharted” has become “unchartered” for some people, and “unchartered” is a word that means something else entirely. Generally, it means without a grant or an formal authorization. When we are in unmapped territory, we are in a place people have not been before; it’s a world without a reliable guide, a world filled with monsters, and a world that’s a bit scary. If that sounds like our situation in the last several years, the word that fits is “uncharted.”
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Is it uncharted or unchartered territory?
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If you look up the word “chart” in a dictionary, you will find the following among the definitions: “a map” (using the word as a noun) and “to map” (using the word as a verb). One textbook I remember from elementary school began with the story of Christopher Columbus and the age of European exploration into what we once called “the New World.” I especially remember a picture of the “known” world in the 15th century (or perhaps earlier), which depicted unmapped areas on the edges of known land and ocean as the home of sea monsters. Most sailors of the day avoided unmapped, or uncharted, territory. They believed they could sail off the earth’s edge or be attacked by the sea monsters. We have used expressions such as “unprecedented” and “uncharted territory” a lot in the past few years. But I’ve noticed lately that “uncharted” has become “unchartered” for some people, and “unchartered” is a word that means something else entirely. Generally, it means without a grant or an formal authorization. When we are in unmapped territory, we are in a place people have not been before; it’s a world without a reliable guide, a world filled with monsters, and a world that’s a bit scary. If that sounds like our situation in the last several years, the word that fits is “uncharted.”