# "Glip of ice" PA regionalism? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 15, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475 "2011-02-15T18:17:18Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![marshmallow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/df705f/32.png) [@marshmallow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marshmallow)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/1 "2011-02-15T18:17:18Z")
Whenever it snows my mother always warns everyone about a “glip of ice” on the road. e.g. “Careful before that intersection, there’s a glip of ice that’s hard to see.” It can also refer to any large covering of ice, like on the driveway or sidewalk. But I’ve known since at least middle school that glip isn’t a real word. So I’m curious if this is an actual Pennsylvania regionalism or if her family (or maybe just her) made it up. She claims everyone from PA said it when she was growing up. Her parents died before I was born. I’ve known people from PA but they’ve all been 20 somethings who have no idea what I’m talking about. Her background: She was born in 1945 and grew up around Bloomsburg and Harrisburg Pennsylvania. Her parents had German and English ancestors who were mostly farmers. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2011, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/2 "2011-02-15T18:28:51Z")
The only Google hit on “glip of ice” besides this thread references the 1809 diary of one Joseph Price, from the [Lower Merion ¶ Historical Society website](http://www.lowermerionhistory.org/texts/price/price1809.html): > [@Joseph Price](#): > > 15th Wind E & begun to hael [hail] about day & got to rain hard before & keep at till after night then quit Cold & froze to the trees awhile, so hard rain it run off > > Jany 15th 1809 > > & made a smart fresh in the Little Crick I Started with the wagon about 9 OC- & attended at funeral house till 11 OC- then Carried him to dutch Church, took him in & had a dutch & Inglish Sermon after interd him 7 feet I think at Least hard rain all the while, Colbert & Lippens took home the Wagon & I dined at Jont Jones, on a very hanson [handsome] Rack & a Leg of Mutton, John Elliot & Self was all the Strangers, Dinner supurb plenty for 12 or 15 Drank 4 or 5 Glasses wine So [home] about 4 OC- hard rain all the [way] & the roads in one Glip of Ice very Dangerous gooing > > 16th Wind N.W. raw Cold day thawd none most tremendous gooing all one Glib Ice neighther Man nor horse Coul[d] Get along without being Roff Shod That second variant inspired me to Google “glib ice”, which turns out to be [a Canadian idiom](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/glib+ice) for ice that is “particularly smooth and slippery”. So it looks as though we can tentatively confirm your guess that “a glip of ice” is a Pennsylvania regional variant of a better-known phrase “glib ice”. Thanks to your mom and Joseph Price for this interesting stroll down etymology lane! ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/3 "2011-02-16T17:14:50Z")
My family is from the Bloomsburg area … lots of aunts, uncles, and cousins in Bloom and nearby small towns. I am a couple of years younger than your mother. I have never heard that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![outlierrn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/outlierrn/32/3005_2.png) [@outlierrn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/outlierrn)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/4 "2011-02-16T17:24:25Z")
I spent winters in Ontario and Minnesota and I’e never heard that ---
**Author:** ![CapnPitt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/edb3f5/32.png) [@CapnPitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CapnPitt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/5 "2011-02-16T17:27:43Z")
I grew up in Pittsburgh and lived there for most of my life. While we have plenty of weird sayings, “glip” isn’t one of them. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/6 "2011-02-16T17:29:43Z")
I was born in Pa and I’ve lived here over 50 years. I’ve never heard that phrase. I’m in the Philly suburbs. Maybe it’s a rural PA thing. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/7 "2011-02-16T17:31:40Z")
Born and raised in Philly. Never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e36b37/32.png) [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Airman_Doors_USAF)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/8 "2011-02-16T17:35:03Z")
I’ve lived in south central PA essentially my entire life, and that’s a new one on me. Maybe it’s PA Dutch English? If so, I wouldn’t imagine you’ll have too much luck getting it confirmed. ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/9 "2011-02-16T17:45:57Z")
“ice glip” shows up in a couple of Finnish websites, but I can’t find a translator that will work it out. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Arky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/87869e/32.png) [@An\_Arky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Arky)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/10 "2011-02-16T18:55:12Z")
If you heard a phrase in PA, chances are it’s not used anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/11 "2011-02-16T19:12:26Z")
Maybe we could try working backwards to the OP’s expression from what appears to be its original form in a more common phrase, namely “glib ice” (for ice that’s particularly smooth and slippery). That’s a well-attested phrase that seems to be still in occasional use in the northeastern US and eastern Canada, according to the Google hits I found for it. So who here has previously encountered the term “glib ice”? And where are you from? ---
**Author:** ![Who\_me\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/958977/32.png) [@Who\_me\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Who_me_1)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/12 "2011-02-16T20:24:33Z")
> [@Airman\_Doors\_USAF](#): > > I’ve lived in south central PA essentially my entire life, and that’s a new one on me. Maybe it’s PA Dutch English? If so, I wouldn’t imagine you’ll have too much luck getting it confirmed. My grandmother used a lot of PA Dutch idioms… but I never heard of a glip of ice. ---
**Author:** ![Apocalypso](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/f19dbf/32.png) [@Apocalypso](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apocalypso)\ **Post date:** [February 16, 2011, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/13 "2011-02-16T20:41:19Z")
I spent my entire life (40 years) in suburban Pittsburgh and have never heard the phrase before. I don’t think this is unique to western PA, but I know a lot of people that invent their own words and phrases. I’m “passing the spinach” on this one… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/14 "2011-02-17T00:28:37Z")
Could ‘glib’ be an English corruption of ‘gliß’ in German (is that a word?)? Could it be related to ‘glissade’? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/15 "2011-02-17T00:39:14Z")
I’ve lived in PA nearly 50 years. I’ve never heard that phrase. ---
**Author:** ![LAnderson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@LAnderson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LAnderson)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/16 "2011-02-17T00:42:53Z")
I can definitely say this is not an idiom used in NW or SW Pennsylvania. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/17 "2011-02-17T00:50:04Z")
Another Pennsylvanian here. I’ve seen much ice, but have never heard of glib ice nor glip of ice. ---
**Author:** ![toadspittle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c0e974/32.png) [@toadspittle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/toadspittle)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/18 "2011-02-17T01:01:39Z")
Grew up in SE Pa., went to school in Central Pa., married a girl from Western Pa. Heard a lot of strange words/phrases over the years, but never that. ---
**Author:** ![FrustratedIdiot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/77aa72/32.png) [@FrustratedIdiot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FrustratedIdiot)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/19 "2011-02-17T01:28:33Z")
“Glib of ice” from Bellefonte, PA. [http://bellefonte.topcities.com/inthenews/page9.html](http://bellefonte.topcities.com/inthenews/page9.html) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2011, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475/20 "2011-02-17T02:00:08Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Could ‘glib’ be an English corruption of ‘gliß’ in German (is that a word?)? As far as I can tell, there is no German word “gliss” or “gliß”. The English word [glib](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=glib) dates back to the 1590’s in the sense of “smooth, slippery”. (It’s still widely used nowadays to refer specifically to smooth or slippery **speech** , especially in the sense of being facile or plausible but with connotations of deceptiveness.) “Glib” is thought to derive from an obsolete term “glibbery” which may originate in Low German “glibberig”, both meaning “slippery”. > [@jasg](#): > > Could it be related to ‘glissade’? Not directly, since [“glissade”](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=glissade) is French. It is ultimately traced to a Proto-Germanic root \*_glidan_, “to glide”, but AFAICT that’s not cognate with “glibberig/glib”. It looks to me as though the etymology of “glip of ice” is pretty straightforward, at least according to all the available evidence. It seems almost certain to be a simple corruption of the well-attested phrase “glib ice”, which just means “smooth or slippery ice” (e.g., as used in [the 1827 poem “A Winter’s Day” by John Clare](http://www.humanitiesweb.org/human.php?s=l&p=c&a=p&ID=3743)): > [@](#): > > The schoolboy still in dithering joys > Pastime in leisure hours employs […] > Kicking wi’ many a flying bound > The football o’er the frozen ground > Or seeking bright glib ice to play > To sailing slide the hours away The challenge here is not figuring out where the phrase “glip of ice” comes from, but tracing its use in Pennsylvania and/or elsewhere. (Hats off to **FrustratedIdiot** for finding another recorded reference.) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/glip-of-ice-pa-regionalism/571475.md?page=2)