Cut and paste job
Encyclopedia
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.
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 journalist
s rather than experts in the subject.
Cut and paste jobs often have a partisan
agenda and present only facts in support of a certain thesis.
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"
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
reference to various kinds of work produced by "cut and paste
Cut and paste
In human-computer interaction, cut and paste and copy and paste offer user-interface interaction techniques for transferring text, data, files or objects from a source to a destination. Most ubiquitously, users require the ability to cut and paste sections of plain text...
", i.e., a quick combination of pieces of text collected from various sources, a compilation.
In application to book
Book
A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...
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 journalist
Journalist
A journalist collects and distributes news and other information. A journalist's work is referred to as journalism.A reporter is a type of journalist who researchs, writes, and reports on information to be presented in mass media, including print media , electronic media , and digital media A...
s rather than experts in the subject.
Cut and paste jobs often have a partisan
Partisan (political)
In politics, a partisan is a committed member of a political party. In multi-party systems, the term is widely understood to carry a negative connotation - referring to those who wholly support their party's policies and are perhaps even reluctant to acknowledge correctness on the part of their...
agenda and present only facts in support of a certain thesis.
While the phrase "cut and paste
Cut and paste
In human-computer interaction, cut and paste and copy and paste offer user-interface interaction techniques for transferring text, data, files or objects from a source to a destination. Most ubiquitously, users require the ability to cut and paste sections of plain text...
" 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
Joseph Jay Deiss
Joseph Jay Deiss , an American author, businessman, historian and archaeologist was born in Twin Falls, Idaho and graduated from the University of Texas, where he also received his Masters.-Life and work:...
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"