Cut and paste (copied and pasted)

In human-computer interaction, cut and paste or copy and paste is a user interface paradigm for transferring text, data, files or objects from a source to a destination. Most ubiquitous is the ability to cut and paste sections of plain text. This paradigm is closely associated with graphical user interfaces that use pointing devices.
The term cut and paste derives from the traditional practice in manuscript editing in which paragraphs were literally cut from a page with scissors and physically pasted onto another page. This was standard practice as late as the 1960s. Editing scissors with blades long enough to cut an 8-1/2"-wide page were available at stationery stores. The advent of photocopiers made the practice easier and more flexible.
The cut-and-paste paradigm was widely popularized by Apple in the Lisa (1981) and Macintosh (1984) operating systems and applications. It was mapped to a key combination consisting of a special control key held down while typing the letters X (for cut), C (for copy), and V (for paste). Similar key combinations were later adopted by Microsoft in Windows. Common User Architecture (in Windows and OS/2) also uses combinations of the Insert, Del, Shift and Control keys. Some environments allow cutting and pasting with a computer mouse (by drag and drop, for example).

Copy and paste

Copy-and-paste refers to the popular, simple method of reproducing text or other data from a source to a destination, which is only different from cut and paste in that the original source text or data is not deleted or removed as it is with the latter process.
Copying can be performed on most graphical user interface systems using the key combinations Ctrl+C (in UNIX environment used for killing the running process) or Ctrl+Ins (the former being more widely supported), or by using some other method, such as a context menu or a toolbar button. Once data have been copied into the area of memory referred to as the clipboard, they can be pasted into a destination using the key combinations Ctrl+V or Shift+Insert, or methods dependent on the system. Macintosh computers use the key combinations Command+C and Command+V. In the X Window System, selecting text copies it to a clipboard, while middle-clicking pastes.
The popularity of this method stems from its simplicity and the ease with which data can be moved between various applications without resorting to permanent storage.

"Cut and paste." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Apr 2006, 14:46 UTC. 12 Apr 2006, 22:00 .

• “I say that I can't make anything up. I think of myself as a collage artist. I'm cutting and pasting memories of my life. And I say, I have to live a life in order to tell a life. I would prefer to tell it because telling you're always in control, you're like God.” -- Spalding Gray


• “If you want to be successful, find someone who has achieved the results you want and copy what they do and you'll achieve the same results.” -- Anthony Robbins


• “Success is dangerous. One begins to copy oneself, and to copy oneself is more dangerous than to copy others. It leads to sterility.” -- Pablo Picasso