paperweight

paperweight

humorous Any object that is no longer used and simply sits in place. An actual paperweight is a usually decorative object or novelty item intended to be placed on top of papers on a desk to keep them in place with its weight (so they do not blow off the desk, etc.). I bought that book expecting to read it throughout the summer, but it was so boring that I put it down almost immediately. Now it's just a 600-page paperweight. Ryan begged and pleaded for me to buy him the latest video game console for Christmas, but it's just been an expensive paperweight for the last few months.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

paperweight

n. a serious student; a hardworking student. What a jerk! Nothing but a paperweight.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions
See also:
  • kick around
  • FOD
  • bounce out
  • can kiss (something) goodbye
  • focus
  • bring (something) into focus
  • bring into focus
  • a mind of its own
  • a mind of own
  • friend zone
References in periodicals archive
To make a paperweight, A John Ditchfield paperweight Pietro placed a selection of the canes in a mould in the desired pattern and fused them within a globule of clear molten glass held by a steel rod called a pontil.
Where better to show off these amazing glass paperweights of intense colour and artistry, than at the National Botanic Garden of Wales?
In honor of Alaska's aviation industry, the Helicopter Mechanical Paperweight is attractive and multi-functional.
Comic-Con attendees will be able to preview the Batman: Arkham Knight Harley Quinn Police Statue Paperweight at the Diamond PREVIEWSworld booth #2401 and purchase from participating retailers on the show floor.
Fire fighters believe the paperweight, which had been left in an upstairs conservatory, concentrated rays from the sun on to a pile of books and set them alight.
Apparently the air was a shade of blue after he received not one but two paperweights.
Karen, of Highfield Road, Attleborough, Nuneaton, said she was distraught that the paperweight had been stolen.
The first tool is a spherical graphite mould which gives the drooping hot glass the roundness it needs to be an instantly recognisable paperweight.
Heim, who kept the skull of a man he decapitated as a paperweight, is the most wanted Nazi war criminal still thought to be alive.
The labors of over a decade of writing--"Glass Paperweight" is the labor of Dennis Wright and his love for his craft, staying up long nights for days on end to get his compositions done due to dealing with his numerous children--something everyone knows is not easy to deal with.
This factory focussed primarily on art glass, but they did help out with paperweight production from the early 1970s to the 1990s.
Bomb disposal experts were called in after a grenade which had been used as a paperweight was handed in at a police station.
A paperweight commemorating the 50th anniversary of Disneyland.
As far as science goes: It makes a great paperweight. How soon before 2 + 2 equals whatever God wants it to be?
For further discussion of the issue, let us come to the original question, the relation between the paperweight on my table and myself.