All that glisters is not gold. Nevertheless, what most people say is "glitters." It's the singular, because it's kind of a reverse formation: gold is not all [the only thing that] glitters.

Glitter is commonly used in arts and crafts to color, accessorise and texture items. The small, brightly colored particles often stick to clothing, skin, and furniture, and can be difficult to remove.

Glitter can represent what is fake, not real. It can remind us of our materialism, hoarding treasure, shiny resources that are fought over, a symbol of greed, a source of conflict and war.

In 1934, Henry Ruschmann, an American machinist, accidentally invented what we now know as modern glitter. He developed a machine capable of cutting plastic sheets into small, uniform pieces.