dialectsnorth-american-englishusagevernacular
What's the difference between these terms?
slippery
: tending or liable to cause slipping or sliding, as ice, oil, or a wet surface: a slippery road. Random House Kennerman Webster's College Dictionary
slick
: smooth, glossy, and slippery: sidewalks slick with ice. AHD
: (US and Canadian) smooth and glossy; slippery. CED
The differences between black, glare and glaze ice on paved surfaces are colloquial, regional and attributive. The terms are often used interchangably, and the sense of each overlaps with the others. So, without accounting for regionalism and localism, the distinctions I know from personal experience with the use of the terms in cold climates are these:
black ice on paved surfaces may or may not appear black. It is effectively invisible while traveling, even at pedestrian speeds, but the term is applied when water freezes on a paved surface in such a way as to compromise traction. I first encountered the term black ice used with this sense in Washington State (> 1990). In my prior experience with the term black ice in Minnesota (1970-1990), it was applied exclusively to lake ice frozen without many air bubbles. In that case, the ice appears black. With that reference, such ice was highly prized by ice skaters and ice boaters, for its smooth surface and transparency, and by others for its outstanding scenic properties.
glare and glaze ice on paved surfaces, unlike black ice, reflects light, as suggested by the names, and so is sometimes visible. The two terms are used interchangably, but my observations indicate that glare is sometimes used to distinguish a thinner ice layer from the thicker layer formed by glaze ice. These observations are supported by my observations of the use of glaze ice in, for example, Oklahoma (< 1970), to describe the coating of surfaces and structures, including the twigs and branches of trees and shrubs, etc., with a layer of ice more than one quarter inch thick. While glare ice might be used with the same reference, the use of glaze as the descriptor was more common.
As mentioned, with reference to ice on pavement, black, glare and glaze are often used interchangably by individual speakers in all regions where I've encountered the terms. With reference to ice on surfaces other than pavement, the choice of term is more likely to be specific to the most notable attribute of the ice, that is, whether it appears black, reflects glare, or glazes surfaces and structures.
This interesting extract says the term "pocketbook", referring to a purse, is becoming less common also in the U.S. where it is used to refer to a (hard sided) handbag
The largest difference between Canadians and Americans was the American use of the old English term ‘pocketbook’ which originated from a type of wallet that fit into the pocket in the 18th century The term was first used to describe a woman’s hard sided handbag in 1816, as opposed to a drawstring closed soft-sided reticule (aka dorothy bag).
Pocketbook is now an archaic word in England and Canada and becoming increasingly scarce in the U.S. but is still used by some to describe the difference between a soft and hard sided handbag.
For the English, a wallet is a masculine style of purse, whereas in North America there are men’s and ladie’s wallets, with men’s wallets (aka billfolds) being smaller to fit into back pockets of trousers (or as Americans would say – pants).
(kickshawproductions.com)
a pocketbook purse.
Best Answer
To this Minnesotan in the middle of winter, pretty much what it says.
A "slick" surface is smooth, and will tend to be slippery (though a slick smooth floor is not slippery to rubber-soled shoes, for example). Ice is usually, but not always, "slick".
A "slippery" surface is one which is apt to result in slipping (and possibly falling, if walking across it). The slipperiness could be due to ice, oil, loose gravel, etc.
(Though admittedly the terms are often interchanged with little regard, especially by radio announcers looking for a different way to describe road conditions.)