Plain text, set in a roman font; equivalent to `\mbox{\rm #1}', except that the argument can include any old printable ASCII characters, including properly-nested braces (escaping them is irrelevant). If you want to do something weird, do it another way. Note that linebreaks within the `\pl' are prevented.

The equivalent typewriter thing is `\tr'.

APRIL91: see possible changes in section See diff-fonts-in-text.