‘Paperclippers’ are the types of boys you should really avoid dating and the annoying trend to look out for this summer
PAPERCLIPPERS are the types of boys we’ve all probably encountered in our dating lives without realising it.
Taking the term from the 90s Microsoft Word icon, Clippy, the terms refers to blokes who randomly pop up at unwanted times.
For any millennials out there who are unfamiliar with Clippy, the paperclip would appear when you were using Word, often with useless advice.
Its annoyance and general inability give any practical help led it to become something of an icon of yesteryear, which has been given a new lease of life through memes.
And now its qualities have been applied to an annoying - and familiar - dating trend.
Created by illustrator, Samantha Rothenberg, who shares her work under the handle Violet Rose on , she wrote: “Who remembers clippy? Well he’s here to make sure you don’t forget him.”
Samantha outlined exactly what a paperclipper is via her doodle, with Clippy saying: “Sometimes I pop up for no reason at all. Like now.
“See, the truth is, I’m damaged, flaky and not particularly interested in you.
“But I don’t want you to forget I exist.”
If these phrases and behaviour sound familiar, it sounds as if you’ve been dating a paperclipper.
If you’re still unsure, a paperclipper will most like come crawling out of the woodwork at random times, for no reason, with a very casual message.
They won’t reference where they’ve been or what they’ve been doing all this time, or offer any explanation for why they – probably – ghosted you in the first place.
The paperclipper is always lurking in the background, and just when you think you’re getting on with your life – they suddenly reappear.
Her illustration has been liked thousands of times, with dozens of people saying her comparison is spot on.
One person said: “He was like a roach you couldn't kill.”
Another wrote: “Sounds like a couple of my exes.
“They always wanna come but they never wanna leave.”
A third added: “Clippy! I’m dealing with one now.”
Somebody else agreed: “Sounds like my ex.”
While this person said: “Clippy more like clingy.”
For anyone out there with a real-live Clippy, we advise to do what we did back in the day – shut him down.
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