Paperclipping - meaning and definition
Definition
When someone keeps popping up with occasional messages just to remind you they exist, without any real intention of moving things forward.
At a glance
- Means appearing now and then just to stay on someone's radar.
- Named after Clippy, the old Microsoft Office paperclip assistant.
- Rarely leads to plans or commitment.
- Closely related to breadcrumbing and zombieing.
In detail
The term refers to Clippy, the cartoon paperclip assistant in older versions of Microsoft Office, which would appear unasked to offer help. A paperclipper reappears in the same way: a random "hey, how are you?" months after the last chat, then nothing again.
It overlaps with breadcrumbing and zombieing. If the messages leave you unsettled, it is fine to ignore them, mute the conversation, or ask what they actually want.
In a sentence
- My ex is paperclipping me again, a random "thinking of you" every few months.
- If you are not going to ask me out, please stop paperclipping.
Where the word comes from
Named after "Clippy", the Microsoft Office assistant of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The dating term appeared in the early 2020s.
Not to be confused with
- Zombieing
Zombieing is coming back after fully ghosting; paperclipping is a repeated habit of brief, purposeless check-ins.
Common questions
How is paperclipping different from breadcrumbing?
They are very similar. Paperclipping stresses the random, unprompted reappearances, while breadcrumbing is the broader pattern of giving just enough attention to keep someone interested.