the.com/foil
the thin metal hero of leftovers and the villain's eternal nemesis in storytelling.
means A thin, flexible sheet of metal (especially aluminum) used for wrapping or covering, or — in another sense — a person or thing that contrasts with another to highlight its qualities, and also the slender practice sword used in fencing.
from From Old French 'foil' or 'fueille,' meaning 'leaf,' which traces back to Latin 'folium' (leaf) — the same root that gives us 'foliage' and 'portfolio.' The metal sense grew from the idea of metal beaten thin as a leaf. The 'contrast' sense comes from the old jeweler's trick of setting a thin leaf of bright metal behind a gem to make it shine more brilliantly — so a literary 'foil' is the dull backing that makes the hero sparkle. The fencing sword is likely a separate thread, possibly from an old verb 'foil' meaning to defeat or trample, related to Old French 'fouler,' to trample or full cloth.
- shiny myth
- Both sides reflect equally; the dull side is just manufacturing
- sword term
- Fencing foils evolved as safe practice weapons
- literary device
- A character existing to make another look brighter
- once precious
- Aluminum was costlier than gold in the 1800s
aluminum foil — thin aluminum sheets first commercially produced by vereinigte leichtmetallwerke in germany, 1910
fencing foil — blunted sword used in olympic fencing since 1896 athens games
literary foil — character technique like rosencrantz and guildenstern contrasting with hamlet in shakespeare's play