Originally Posted by
Badger6
If someone says paved road (asphalt or tarmac, whichever you prefer to call it)
I'm not especially familiar with the uses of "tarmac" as applied to road surfaces, but at least where I am in the US, "asphalt" is not a catch-all for sealed paved surfaces. It refers specifically to asphalt concrete, the other two common phrases when specifying sealed road surfaces being "concrete" (referring to Portland cement concrete) and chipseal.