paper cut

• papercut

From paper +‎ cut.

paper cut (plural paper cuts)

1. A wound caused by a piece of paper or any thin, sharp material which can slice through a person's skin.
2. (figurative) Any minor harm.
   • 2015, Steven Savile, David Sakmyster, NDE: The Lazarus Inititiative‎^[1]:

     The muscle hurried around to stand in front of Gregor. Jonah held up a hand. “Hey, easy there. Your boss isn't in any danger, unless he's prone to paper cuts.” Gregor rolled his eyes and stepped through the security guards.

   • 2013, Scott Blagden, Dear Life, You Suck‎^[2], page 86:

     You'd think a nurse would want to get blood on her uniform to show people she did something useful with her day instead of just saving schoolboys from paper cuts.

   • 2010, J. B. Loewen, Money Magnet: How to Attract Investors to Your Business‎^[3]:

     Investors do cope with more challenges than paper cuts as they count cash

   • 2009, Jill Milligan, Grandma Rules: Notes on Grandmotherhood, the World's Best Job‎^[4]:

     You are totally gaga over your husband of thirty years, the handsome and athletic CEO of a non-profit that's dedicated to finding a cure for disease, world hunger, and paper cuts.

   • 2009, Rick Balsiger, Branding You Marketing You: A Guide to Maximizing Job Search Success‎^[5]:

     While this too may appear painfully obvious, it is amazing how easy it is to sometimes overlook the little things. (As someone used to say, “It's the paper cuts that kill you!”)

   • 2008, Kathy Copeland, Craig Copeland, Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country: Utah Canyon Country‎^[6]:

     They range from gaping wounds— Mexico's Copper Canyon, for example—to mere paper cuts like Willis Creek Canyon

   • 2004, Karen Haber, Exploring the Matrix: Visions of the Cyber Present‎^[7], page 203:

     Where every day is devoted to minimize the mental and emotional paper cuts of fear and helplessness.

3. (film and video editing) A text-based description of the cuts to be made in raw footage to make finished video.
4. A decorative ornament made by artful cutting of paper, as into silhouettes.
5. (software) a paper cut bug: a bug which causes harm and would be easy to fix.

• death by a thousand paper cuts

Unadapted borrowing from English paper cut.

• IPA^(key): /ˈpæɪˌpɛ(r) ˈkat/ (more or less like English)

• Audio (Kronoberg):

  (file)

paper cut n

1. (colloquial Anglicism) a paper cut (wound caused by a piece of paper)

   Hypernym: skärsår (“cut”)

   • 2025 August 8, 12:14 from the start, in Doobidoo‎^[8], spoken by Lasse Kronér, via Sveriges Television:

     Detta ska ni veta, ni där hemma, är kanske det farligaste momentet i Doobidoo. Så många gånger har jag slitit upp dem och fått sånnahär paper cuts.

     This you should know, you back home, is perhaps the most dangerous moment in Doobidoo. So many times I’ve torn them [paper rolls] open and got these paper cuts.

• Generally, Swedish does not specify that the cut was caused by paper. See skärsår (“cut”).