No such distinguishing need be made.
plaster , short for plaster of paris, is nothing but gypsum… and that explains where you got your additional words from…
Lathe is nothing but a way to create a wall or ceiling in situe starting with lathe and plaster powder . So what ?
The modern way is drywall, which is simply pre-fab’d sheeting, and no lathe is then needed.
Many homes have plaster (whether pre-fab or painted in situ ) walls, as well as plaster ceilings.
That is because it bonds together well, and it remains quite stiff, so that if it does pull off one part of the wall or ceiling stucture, it probably won’t be noticed.
Now you can use a timber or artificial timber for walls, and the OP is perhaps asking why ceilings are better done with plaster ?
Well the reason is that the builder can easily look along the wall and floor and make sure its very very flat. But the ceiling structure is often the lower end of the pre-fab gable,
and the builder has difficulty putthing is head up there ,and has difficulty doing anything about small alignment problems. The pre-fab gables also do quite some settling, because they never held weight and then they have roofing on them… and they are getting heated up in the summer.
And even if the ceiling is attached to a floor, he would of course prefer the floor side to be precise, which then leaves the lower, ceiling, side to be slightly incorrect.
I am just explaining some of the sins that the comment “hides a multitude of sins”…
refers to .
Other sins include light fittings being removed, the problems with water leaks causing drooping (plaster resists water damage… not immune but it has to be attacked by acids for quite a while… ), and also the lower weight of plaster… and if does fall, less damage is done.
The builders just like it, and it does the job.