Spot the Frippet: film.

After the Oscars Awards Ceremony I thought I'd write about parasites, but when I researched them I quickly discovered that they were far too revolting, and so I'm going to write about films, instead.

Why is a film, as in the movie Parasite, called a film?

Well, long ago, the many photographs which go to make up a film used to be kept, not as data in a computer's memory, but on long strips of translucent tape. The photographs themselves came in the form of a very thin film of chemicals on this strip.

So, what we're looking for are very thin layers.

A bubble consists of a film, usually of detergent:


photo by Brocken Inaglory

and then you get what in Britain we call cling film, which keeps food moist:



There are also naturally-occurring living films, that is living things joined together to form a sort of thin community spread across a surface. You're destroying one every time you clean your teeth (eerghh!). 

That kind of a biofilm is also a heck of a nuisance on contact lenses.

Modern mirrors are coated with a reflective film. Spectacles are often coated similarly, too.

You might apply a film of oil to stop surfaces rubbing together.

Then there are thin-film solar panels, which are cheaper than the original kind because they use up so much less material.

Or, on the other hand, if you're feeling brave, you could just watch Parasite.

But I think spotting a solar panel or two will do for me.

Spot the Frippet: film. This word comes from the Old English filmen, membrane. It's related to the Greek pelma, which means the sole of the foot, and, rather distantly, to the English word peel.