Snow report

[thirdcrank]

...The weatherman on Radio 4 used "slippy" this morning. Is this a northernism (as opposed to slippery)?

In the first dictionary I consulted, (a Chambers from the 1960's) under the general entry for "slip," I found:

adjs. slippery. slippy, so smooth or slimy .....

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PS in the search for greater knowledge (AKA to try to discover what on earth this was all about) I consulted all three editions of Fowler whre it is not mentioned (although I'll be careful in future not to hyphenate "first slip" (when used to describe the placing of a fielder in cricket.) Partridge In Usage and Abusage) noted that the Concise Oxford Dictionary describes "slippy for slippery" as vulgar. Oh dear. What is the world coming to?

[Manx Cat]

No snow here... Just gales , gales and more gales...

Hard work cycling into work, but Im breaking the speed record on the way home

[eileithyia]

No snow here... Just gales , gales and more gales...

Hard work cycling into work, but Im breaking the speed record on the way home

[thirdcrank]

Our snow has all gone but this morning has brought a succession of short but severe hailstorms.

I'm still a bit bemused by the slippery/ slippy question. I've thought about this a bit and I use both words. I tend to think of slippery as having slimy connotations - politicians, that type of thing, but to describe a road as slippy seems normal to me. I asked my wife, a native of Hertfordshire what she thought. She said she would never use the word slippy for anything, but would have the same slimy feelings about slippery. She would describe a road with a low coefficient of friction through ice as "icy." (I should have been irritated by "slippy (or slippery) old roads.")

[snibgo]

I tend to think of a surface (eg road or footpath) as "slippery", but an object on the surface (eg shoe, tyre) as "slippy".

No snow here in SW Cambs yet, and it's a little warmer than it has been.

[Guy951]

Since TC started this thread it's been bright and cold every day, except last night when we had a little light rain. It has been a bit slippERy in the mornings.

I've always used "slippy" as "quick", as in "look slippy" being the same as "look sharp".

I think this usage comes from Hindi - In that excellent poem Kipling has one of the soldiers shout "Slippy hitherao" at Gunga Din - meaning "come here quickly".

[thirdcrank]

... I've always used "slippy" as "quick", as in "look slippy" being the same as "look sharp". ...

The entry in the waffle I quoted from Partridge has that usage as slang. (Remember that Kipling was generally writing about the "other ranks" - very infra dig.)

PS We could tread water talking about language and then revert to snow if we get any.

[Mick F]

Quite pleasant out there today 11degC, pity I had a Jobs List to do instead of cycling.
Hope the weather holds for tomorrow, as I can combine a spot of shopping and cycling with my trailer.

Listening to the radio earlier, the Isle of Man has copped it with the gales - as Manx Cat has attested - and there's a red warning up in Scotland regarding "damaging" winds.

[karlt]

MrsT reckons I shouldn't do my regular 14.5 miler to work tomorrow, owing to 50mph gusts.

If I do it, I expect a record time in. And a record long time back, going by the wind direction.

[[XAP]Bob]

MrsT reckons I shouldn't do my regular 14.5 miler to work tomorrow, owing to 50mph gusts.

If I do it, I expect a record time in. And a record long time back, going by the wind direction.

Sorry - don't winds change during the day?

[karlt]

MrsT reckons I shouldn't do my regular 14.5 miler to work tomorrow, owing to 50mph gusts.

If I do it, I expect a record time in. And a record long time back, going by the wind direction.

Sorry - don't winds change during the day?

Well, they're always coming from where you're going, up to a point.

[[XAP]Bob]

MrsT reckons I shouldn't do my regular 14.5 miler to work tomorrow, owing to 50mph gusts.

If I do it, I expect a record time in. And a record long time back, going by the wind direction.

Sorry - don't winds change during the day?

Well, they're always coming from where you're going, up to a point.

Certainly corresponds with me experience

[karlt]

Inch in Sheffield this morning. Definitely had the right mode of transport this morning; traffic queued for miles. Took me an hour and a quarter instead of the normal hour, but it would have taken a lot, lot, lot, lot longer by car.

[Mick F]

Driving the Community Bus yesterday into and out of Callington (east Cornwall) and we had about half an inch of slushy wet snow for some of the day up on Hingston Down on the A390.

Milder today with wet and windy showers.

[cjchambers]

The weatherman on Radio 4 used "slippy" this morning. Is this a northernism (as opposed to slippery)?

Bob Johnson, the (Scottish) weather presenter on ITV Tyne Tees refers to icy patches as "Skiitey Bits".