Spot the Frippet: oil.

 What's an oil?

It's not that easy to describe. It'll be a liquid, and one that usually won't mix with water. It'll be smooth. Quite thick, possibly. Probably not cloudy. A bit sticky. And, well, oily.

Luckily we all know oil when we see it, whether it comes in a bottle:

photo by margenauer

or on a canvas:

painting by Yano Ayako

In a dropper:

photo by www.formulatehealth.com

or in a lamp (oils are often flammable):

By Arne Hückelheim - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=12395926

You may smear oil on your skin (or hide your oily skin with powder); or you may put it on a salad; you may also put it on a squeaky hinge or an engine. It's in perfume. It's found in whales, under the ground, and in many many plants.

In Australia and New Zealand the good oil means facts or news.

Oil is all over the place, doing all kinds of things. It's very close to you.

I mean, look in a mirror. How shiny is your nose?

Spot the Frippet: oil. This word comes from the Greek elaia, which means olive.