blacktop/macadam

[A. Maberry]

I hear "blacktop" fairly often usually in connection with someone having a
driveway, parking lot or some other small project paved. Asphalt
(pronounced while I was growing up in Portland as something closer to
AZ-falt rather than ASS-falt) seems to be applied to bigger projects like
roads, highways, etc. But then again, perhaps I'm making a distinction
without a difference.

allen
maberry at u.washington.edu


On Fri, 6 Dec 2002, Peter Richardson wrote:
>
> Same for Illinois in the 50s. I wouldn't blink a toad's eye if I heard it
> today, though, even if it might sound odd to others. My mother,
> incidentally, would have said "macadam," even if that's strictly something
> different from blacktop/asphalt. (She was from Portland, where there's
> still a street named Macadam--whether after the famous Scot or not, I
> don't know, but I doubt it was named after its material; just imagine "I
> live on Concrete Street.")
>
> PR
>