copy-paste

• copy/paste, copypaste, copy and paste, copy-and-paste

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium. Particularly: “surely more than just copy + paste?”)

copy-paste (countable and uncountable, plural copy-pastes)

1. (computing) The action of duplicating (text, an object, etc.) by copying it and later pasting somewhere else.
   • 2007, Katrien Herbert, Erik Duval, "Evaluating the ALOCOM Approach for Scalable Content Repurposing", Creating New Learning Experiences on a Global Scale (), Springer →ISBN, page 364

     Paragraphs, images or diagrams are frequently assembled manually by copy-paste actions.

   • 2009, Stephen Woessner, The Small Business Owner's Handbook to Search Engine Optimization: Increase Your Google Rankings, Double Your Site Traffic... in Just 15-Steps - Guaranteed, Atlantic Publishing Company, →ISBN, page 114:

     Optimizing your META Keywords field is remarkably easy, especially if you have just optimized your page titles. All you need to do is a simple copy-paste.

   • 2010, Martin Fowler, Domain-Specific Languages, Pearson Education, →ISBN:

     It also has disadvantages; for one thing, the lack of focus on program structure leads to lots of copy-paste programming and poorly structured programs. Language workbenches support developing new kinds of programming platforms like this.

2. (chiefly computing, informal) Material incorporated into another work with minimal or no changes.
   • 2013, Ronald A Brand, D Wes Rist, The Export of Legal Education, Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., →ISBN, page 101:

     The interesting fact, however, is that the Regulation takes as a model, or better to say it is mostly a copy-paste of the text, of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods rather than being adjusted to the needs of Kosovo.

copy-paste (third-person singular simple present copy-pastes, present participle copy-pasting, simple past and past participle copy-pasted)

1. (computing, transitive) To copy (text, an object, etc.) and later paste it somewhere else.
   • 2004, Corinne Hervo, Straight to the Point: Flash 5, Firewall Media, →ISBN:

     It can be useful to copy-paste frames to transfer a sequence from the main timeline to the timeline of a clip symbol.

• cut and paste