Remember Clippy, back from the early 2000s? Clippy was that big eyeballed paperclip figure that would pop up here and there and ask you annoying questions whenever you were using some type of Microsoft software program? Well, that dated figure has since become a dating figure of speech on social media: the term "paperclipping." And when you are experiencing paperclipping in the dating world, you may just want to click "X" and clear what you see on the screen.

Paperclipping is when someone you know pops up every now and then on one or more of your messaging platforms to ask you some frivolous questions. The question may be a simple "Hey, whatsup?" or "How you doing?" via a smartphone text or some social media app. Regardless, the common theme is that when you answer the question posed, the conversation rarely ends up going very far. In fact, you might not even get a response to your response.

So, what is the purpose of such little clips of text? It can be a way of maintaining contact with you, keeping you on the back burner as an option for whatever, without any real commitment. That person may be someone who went on a few dates with you, never progressed it further, but is trying to keep........

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