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Different name for the strip of holey paper from a spiral notebook

English Language & Usage Asked by B. Goddard on April 25, 2021

When students rip out papers from a spiral notebook, the edge has a row of little holes. Unlike when I was young, these pages have perforations running down the right side so that the strips can be easily removed, making the paper much neater.

I taught at university my whole career and we called these annoying strips "shitlets." And it was my (and others’) policy that submitted work was to have the shitlets removed. "Homework with shitlets attached will be returned ungraded. And if I find shitlets outside my door and your homework shoved under it, then I’m just going to shove it back."

In my retirement, I’ve picked up a part-time job teaching math at a little Christian school. I want to have the same policy, but I’m pretty sure that "shitlet" is on the list of words I shouldn’t use in the classroom.

So is there another word for shitlets? Preferably one that is disparaging? If not, would it be too far off topic to have a contest on this list to coin a Puritan-friendly yet derogatory term for them? I’d be happy to post a bounty.

4 Answers

Urban Dictionary and AZdictionary both define those as 'kadoobies.'

A classroom appropriate, yet ridiculous and flip title for a ridiculous and wildly inconvenient aspect of spiral notebooks.

To give it a Biblical slant, you could make a pun out of it and call them holey kadoobies.

Correct answer by Poison Ivy on April 25, 2021

I had a teacher in HS who called them "SCUGGIES" and we were not allowed to turn in work that had any scuggies on them. This was before the time of perforated edges. Not only did we carry around a ruler for math class we carried around a ruler to take paper out of our spiral notebooks without any scuggies.

Answered by Christopher Cellini on April 25, 2021

According to a professional printer they are called edgings. At least when they are on printer paper. But I think it would do for spiral notebooks too.

Robert Charles Lee
, Printbroker, financial printer, ex-lawyer

I’m in the printing industry. Answered this months ago:—

[microperforated] pin-feed edge
tractor edge
sprocket edge

Once they’re torn off, they’re called ‘edgings.’

Answered by Pete on April 25, 2021

I am used to the term selvage as the finished edge of a bolt of textiles and am pleased to find the wikipedia article has a use in printing, as the excess material on the scrap side of a perforation, so it applies to this case as well

In the print industry, selvage is the excess area of a printed or perforated sheet of any material, such as the white border area of a sheet of stamps or the wide margins of an engraving etc.

Answered by user662852 on April 25, 2021

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