the.com/slipperiness
the universe's polite refusal to let you keep your footing or your dignity.
means The quality of being slippery — physically hard to grip or stand on, or figuratively hard to pin down, evasive, or untrustworthy.
from Built from 'slippery,' which traces back to Old English 'slipor' (slimy, smooth), tied to a Germanic family of words for sliding and slipping — a cousin of 'slip' itself. Add '-ness,' the trusty old English suffix that turns a quality into a thing, and you get the abstract noun for everything that won't hold still under your foot or your grasp.
- ice myth
- Ice is slick mainly from a thin melt layer, not pressure.
- banana truth
- Banana peels really do slip, thanks to gel-filled cells.
- measure it
- Engineers quantify it as the coefficient of friction.
- slipperiest stuff
- Teflon is so slick nothing naturally sticks to it.
- frog defense
- Slime lets eels and frogs squirt from predators' grips.
banana peel — coefficient of friction 0.07, lower than ice on ice (0.02-0.09 range), famously used in mario kart and real physics studies
teflon coating — polytetrafluoroethylene invented 1938, friction coefficient 0.05-0.10, used in non-stick cookware and industrial applications
black ice — thin transparent ice layer on roads, friction coefficient drops to 0.05-0.15, causes accidents on highways in winter