Cut and paste job

Cut and paste job

A cut-and-paste job or cut and paste approach is a pejorative reference to various kinds of work produced by "cut and paste", i.e., a quick combination of pieces of text collected from various sources, a compilation.[1]

In application to book writing, cut and paste job implies little creativity, no original research and no new insights. It is often assumed that these books are produced by journalists rather than experts in the subject.[2]

Cut and paste jobs often have a partisan agenda and present only facts in support of a certain thesis.[2][3]

While the phrase "cut and paste" today is associated with computer user interface, the phrase predates the computers. For example, a 1969 book The Roman Years of Margaret Fuller: A Biography by Joseph Jay Deiss says: "It was a cut-and-paste job, with the scissors acting as censor's shears. Suspect material was deleted - whole sections snipped from letters"[4]

References

  1. ^ "Cut and paste", Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1). Random House, Inc. accessed 26 Feb. 2008.
  2. ^ a b The Alliance. - book reviews, by Richard Brookhiser, National Review, February 24, 1984
  3. ^ Usage example (see "Lodge Committee" for the context): "Beveridge had the last word in the "investigation" by gleaning from the record anything that remotely supported his conclusion that the war was one of the most humane ones in history and then publishing this deceitful cut-and-paste job as a separate senate document." — From "Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903" by Stuart Creighton Miller (1982) ISBN 0300030819
  4. ^ The Roman Years of Margaret Fuller: A Biography by Joseph Jay Deiss (1969) p.225

Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • cut-and-paste job —    a report sloppily prepared from various sources    The script might be thus edited prior to word processors, which have however retained the terminology:     Mr Baker claims the articles have used selective quotations from telephone… …   How not to say what you mean: A dictionary of euphemisms

  • cut-and-paste — I. ˈ ̷ ̷  ̷ ̷ ˈ ̷ ̷ noun : a computer software function allowing the user to easily move blocks of information (as text or graphics) within or among documents • cut and paste II. ¦ ̷ ̷  ̷ ̷ ˈ ̷ ̷ adjective : pieced together by excerpting and… …   Useful english dictionary

  • cut-and-paste — /kut n payst /, adj. assembled or produced from various existing bits and pieces: The book purports to be a history but is just a cut and paste job of old essays and newspaper clippings. * * * …   Universalium

  • cut-and-paste — adjective Date: 1953 pieced together by excerpting and combining fragments from multiple sources < the book was a cut and paste job > …   New Collegiate Dictionary

  • Cut, copy, and paste — Cut and paste redirects here. For the hack writing strategy, see Cut and paste job. Copy Paste redirects here. For the album by BoA, see Hurricane Venus. In human computer interaction, cut and paste and copy and paste offer user interface… …   Wikipedia

  • cut — {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun 1 hole/opening made by cutting ADJECTIVE ▪ clean, neat ▪ little, small ▪ long ▪ straight …   Collocations dictionary

  • cut — cut1 W1S1 [kʌt] v past tense and past participle cut present participle cutting ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ 1¦(reduce)¦ 2¦(divide something with a knife, scissors etc)¦ 3¦(make something shorter with a knife etc)¦ 4¦(remove parts from film etc)¦ 5¦(make a… …   Dictionary of contemporary English

  • cut — I UK [kʌt] / US verb Word forms cut : present tense I/you/we/they cut he/she/it cuts present participle cutting past tense cut past participle cut *** 1) [transitive] to use a knife, pair of scissors, or other sharp tool to divide something into… …   English dictionary

  • cut — [c]/kʌt / (say kut) verb (cut, cutting) –verb (t) 1. to penetrate, with or as with a sharp edged instrument: he cut his finger. 2. to strike sharply, as with a whip. 3. to wound severely the feelings of. 4. to divide, with or as with a sharp… …  

  • cut — ▪ I. cut cut 1 [kʌt] noun [countable] 1. a planned reduction in the amount or level of something: cut in • The chairman took an $800,000 cut in pay last year because of poor profits. • the president s programme of budget cuts …   Financial and business terms

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”