yeah it's a mistake most people seem to make.
pla is NOT brittle. if you hit it with a hammer it tends to dent not shatter.

What it is, is stiffer than abs. IE: it won't flex as much. But brittle - nah.

You have to bear in mind that in the last 3 years, the market has gone from basic umodified pla to hundreds of different formulations of modified pla - pretty much all of them tougher and better than the original filament.