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How did the term "flicks" come to relate to "movies" or "cinema"? Where did "flicks" come from?

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Downvoted as no research shown, and voted to close as general reference. – Hugo Dec 8 '11 at 20:46

closed as general reference by Hugo, Daniel δ, simchona♦, Mr. Shiny and New 安宇, RegDwighт♦ Dec 9 '11 at 7:25

This question is too basic; it can be definitively and permanently answered by a single link to a standard internet reference source designed specifically to find that type of information. See the FAQ for guidance on how to improve it.

1 Answer

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From the flickering appearance of early movies.

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Yes. Early slang for a movie (which is itself a shortening of "moving picture") was a "flicker-show", because early film projectors had a rather large advance time between frames, in which a shutter obstructs the light source. – KeithS Jun 17 '11 at 15:48

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