# those doo-hickeys on staplers **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588 "2002-09-09T00:37:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nineiron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e56c9b/32.png) [@nineiron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nineiron)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/1 "2002-09-09T00:37:41Z")
Why do staplers have those little thingeys (yes, “thingeys” is the scientific term), located just beneath where the staple comes out, that you can turn in order to change the way the staple is configured when you staple? You know what I mean–the thing that changes the staple from bending inward to bending outward when you staple a bunch of papers together; it’s really just a pair of indentations on a thin metal plate. Is there a reason that someone would want his staples to turn outward rather than inward? Am I correct in assuming that the inward turn is the “default setting” for a stapler? I must admit that, although I suspect those things have been there all along, I never knew what they were for until a year or so ago. I guess I never thought about it before, but now I’m intrigued by it. So what is the great truth behind the stapler-turnaround-thingey? ---
**Author:** ![kanicbird](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/5f8ce5/32.png) [@kanicbird](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kanicbird)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/2 "2002-09-09T00:49:48Z")
THeoutie setting on the thingie is to make a staple that is easier to remove. This has largly gone the way of the horse and buggy when paper clips were invented (they were much more fun to bend into different shapes) but the staple co’s keep that form on their thingies hoping that one day people will realize that the paperclip thing is a fad.\* - based on a true story. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/3 "2002-09-09T01:43:32Z")
Maybe it’s metric, and all us Americans just pretend it doesn’t exist.😉 (In almost 500 posts that’s the first time I’ve ever used a smilie) ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/4 "2002-09-09T01:56:01Z")
To expand a bit on what **k2dave** said, in the olden days, people would sometimes pin papers together rather than staple them. A pin is easier to remove. The thingie in the alternate position is the eqivalent to pinning the papers. Haj ---
**Author:** ![lee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lee/32/7455_2.png) [@lee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lee)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/5 "2002-09-09T05:05:44Z")
The thingy is called an anvil. It is indeed so that you can put a staple in that can be more easily removed than the other way. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/6 "2002-09-09T06:16:05Z")
Go to [http://www.calcampus.com/stapler/index.htm](http://www.calcampus.com/stapler/index.htm) for all your stapler information needs. Yes, it’s an anvil. And the guy who runs the site says that one can use staples in the outie position in place of pins when sewing, so I’m going to have to try that sometime. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 7:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/7 "2002-09-09T07:38:26Z")
I used to get a few cheques in the mail stapled that way, and that’s when I finally understood why that little doobrey was there. Bloody clever too. As soon as I saw this thread I knew that’s what you were asking about. ---
**Author:** ![chique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4491bb/32.png) [@chique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chique)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2002, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/those-doo-hickeys-on-staplers/127588/8 "2002-09-09T10:48:51Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by nineiron_ > **…thingey…** > [@](#): > > _Originally posted by k2dave_ > **…thingie…** > [@](#): > > Originally posted by lee\* > **…thingy…** Yes, but what’s it CALLED? 😕