How to "Cut & Paste"

Firstly, the terminology.

Cut -- taken from the old days of printing and publishing (before computers) where one would cut out a picture or a word with scissors from a piece of paper. In regards to computing, cut means to remove it from your document. (keystroke: ctrl X; in Windows 9x: right mouse button, choose cut)

Copy -- just like it sounds, to make a copy (keystroke: ctrl c; in Windows 9x: right mouse button, choose copy).

Paste -- taking that picture or word you have cut out and literally pasting onto your document. In other words, adding an item to your work. (keystroke: ctrl v;  in Windows 9x right mouse button, choose paste)

Blocking -- the act of highlighting an area. This is done by placing your mouse cursor on the item and clicking the left mouse button. In the case of a word or sentence, you would place the cursor at the beginning of what you wish to block and holding down the left mouse button while you "drag" the cursor across the item to be blocked, releasing the left mouse button when you have reached the end of the area to be blocked. If successful, you'll see a "block" around the area to be highlighted. Alternately, you may also block an item by using the cursor, or arrow, keys -- instead of the mouse. Simply move the cursor with the arrow keys to the beginning of what you wish to highlight, holding down the "shift" key and moving the cursor with the arrow keys until you reach the end of what you wish to block and releasing the "shift" key. For many new users this is easier to control than using the mouse.

Clipboard -- The clipboard is an invisible "place" in your computer where the last item that was "cut" or "copied" is stored, ready for you to reuse it with the "paste" command. The bad news is that it only holds one "cut" or "copy at a time. The good news is that you can use this to move items from one application to another. Example: copy contents of an email for inclusion in a letter or report written using your word processor or even copy text from an Internet site and paste it into a document.

Examples:

Here "your docu" is blocked.

Now it's cut out of the document.

So now we're ready to use this tool.

In the days before word processors, to write a letter required that one either compose the complete document in one's head or to write a rough draft and then write or type the document.
If you ever made a mistake, you would either use "white-out" or crumple the paper and toss it in the garbage. Thank goodness that this is no longer necessary. Instead, in a word processing environment, one simply puts their thoughts down and then easily re-arranges them in an order that one likes.

This is done by using "cut & paste".

Block the word or words you wish to "cut".
Now, move your mouse to the top of your computer screen where you find the "Edit" pull down menu (this is located next to "File"). Click on "Edit".
From the pull down menu, choose (click on) "cut" and your highlighted block is removed.
Where did the old text go? It was placed on the "clipboard".
The cut item remains "on the clipboard" until it is replaced by the next item you cut.
This is kind of like an "undo" feature. If you change your mind and want the blocked portion back or to use it in another place in your document, just place the cursor where you want it, click on "Edit" and them choose "paste" and the cut item is again placed in your document.
You can use this to copy as well!
You can use this same method to copy the blocked item, simply choose "Copy" from the pull down menu instead of "Cut" and follow the same procedure to "paste" a copy of the item elsewhere in your document.

Advanced tricks -- "Drag & Drop" Copy