cut-and-paste

[ kuht-n-peyst ]

adjective

1. 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.

cut and paste

noun

1. a technique used in word processing by which a section of text can be moved within a document

Idioms and Phrases

Describing a patched-up job or trivial work. For example, The revision was easy, just cut and paste , or The new assistant had expected some training, but all she got was cut and paste . This term alludes to simple artwork done by small children—cutting out pictures and gluing them to paper. [Mid-1900s]

Example Sentences

There are the usual lines of attack — conflating Harris’ diplomacy in Central America with her being a “border czar” — but it’s largely a cut-and-paste job.

From Salon

The blogger, 32-year-old Sholto David, of Pontypridd, Wales, is a scientist-sleuth who detects cut-and-paste image manipulation in published scientific papers.

From Seattle Times

Among other things, court records show, the lawyer ignored evidence supplied by Mr. Gamboa, filed a cut-and-paste habeas corpus petition that still bore the name of an earlier client and submitted a brief admitting that his client must lose.

From New York Times

In some cases, the cheating is obvious, says Main, the writing professor, who has had students turn in assignments that were clearly cut-and-paste jobs.

From Seattle Times

After leaving Croydon in 1970, Reid co-founded the underground political magazine “Suburban Press,” in which he developed and honed his signature cut-and-paste style.

From Los Angeles Times