Ok, given the strong response to the safety pin thread I’ll start one for Alternate Uses for a Paper Clip.

1) Used to eject CD or DVD from system that is powered down
2) Heated to red hot burn through smashed finger nail to relieve pressure
3) ?

Cheers,
W-W

Opening cheap locks like those found on budget lock boxes, file cabinets and desk drawers. (misspent youth)

Sticking into electrical sockets to trip breakers or blow fuses (preferably, while held in insulated pliers). (more misspent youth)

Projectile for use with a rubber band or piece of surgical hose to annoy other people or creatures (maybe even stun or kill small ones). (are we sensing a theme here?)

Lots of them linked together to make chainmail armor.

Who hasn't made a paper-clip chain? (Not useful for much.)

Scrape the dirt from under fingernails.

Put through the holes on the end of small tools to make them easier to hang on a peg board.

An emergency replacement for a blown car fuse (just be careful that whatever caused the fuse the blow doesn't wind up catching fire).

Temporarily short two circuits together on a PC board to clear computer's CMOS/password or reset many other devices.

Cross two terminals of a battery to light a fire (don't burn your fingers!)

Sharpen one end to make a crude fish hook, gaff or dart for a blow gun.

Key-ring.

Trigger for a snare.

Improvised Christmas ornament or light hangers.

And, of course, holding sheets of paper together.

Bending into a safety pin!

best i can do off hand is a zipper pull replacement or maybe a cut off bit to replace a lost glasses hinge screw.i don't know how to do it but i'll bet someone could come up with a way to use one as part of a "hair trigger" for a dead fall or other type of trap.

Use along with a metal twist-tie to splice together a broken heating element in an oven broiler. Like splinting a leg, use the paperclip to bridge the gap, secure on both sides by wraps of twist tie. (One of my rare McGyver moments at a rental cabin.)

The lowely paper clip can be bent to hold things together that are glowing hot.

Substitute for proper safety wire or cotter pin to keep things from falling or vibrating apart.

Really poor, but sometimes functional substitute for a hinge pin.

Can be used as a scribe to mark wood, metal, or plastic parts.

Sometimes can be used to unclog small tubing or jets.

Handy with a cotton patch to clean the little spaces of some firearms.

I keep some jumbo size (about 2" long) paperclips in many of my tool kits.

cotter pin?

Tweezers. (Some applications posted above come pretty close)

Keeping small and flat glue projects in place while the glue dries. (Obviously, this is pretty close to the original paper clip usage).

Unlock handcuffs.

Trade into a house (the story of One Red Paperclip)

WWII symbol of resistance.
Paper clip on wikipedia

The not quite true Norwegian national myth of the paper clip has been used actively as a symbol of Norwegian ingenuity. (The Norwegian inventor Johan Vaaler got a patent in 1901 for a simpler paper clip that was not quite as good as the modern paper clip. Don't let facts stand in the way of using a good myth...).

Keyboard keycap puller. So you can vacuum or dump the cookie crumbs out of your keyboard. (Or mess with your nemesis at work)

Bend it into an "omega" with the legs turned inward instead of outward.

I own a pistol (Kimber Pro Carry II) that's very difficult to field strip if you don't have the included take-down tool...or a paperclip.

I find this interesting as I have seen others ridiculed for including a paper clip in their mini kits. Obviously the ones doing the ridiculing didn't think it through and I am afraid the ones who were being ridiculed took the advice to heart and eliminated this obviously useful implement from their kit. The only disadvantage is some of the mods require other tools you may not have on your person. Still, if you might need a short length of wire for something it seems worth throwing one or two into your kit.

Also you can use one to unclog a glue applicator tip.

I can't think of anything else original to add that hasn't already been mentioned so ... yeah ... what everybody else said.

They're good for...
* Cleaning out the air intake in the wood stove (mine, anyway).

* Formed into a chain with one opened into a hook, to retrieve your keys from a grate. If the clips in normal shape aren't long enough, open them out into S's and pinch the openings together. (Ha! You didn't think the lowly chain was good for anything, huh?)

* Marking the last page you read in the book.

* Holding the pre-cut mylar circle that fits inside your wool or fleece hat when you need extra warmth, or holding the mylar (folded) inside the rolled-up cuff of same hat when you just need a little warmth.

* Small shish kabob holders.

* Holding the dangly earrings to the dog's ear hair as part of a Halloween Floozie Carpoozie costume. (Those little squeeze clamps were too heavy.)

* With half of it straightened out and the other half still bent, you've got a little poker with a handle to stab small prey before it escapes, to retrieve it off the hot rock for eating, and for poking into squash vines to kill the borer inside the stem.

* For holding bait in the trap so it can't be stolen without tripping the trigger.

* Cleaning wax out of your ears.

* Makeshift barrette.

* I've heard they are good for pitting cherries, but I just use drinking straws.

* Lightweight chain linker.

Six inches of wire can be useful for all kinds of make-do.

Sue

American english cotter pin - a bit of wire with a "D" shaped cross section, folded in half with a loop at one end. Used to retain parts.

British english cotter pin is a different animal. Never heard of it being used in the US, but I'm under 50. Weird shaped tapered pin?

Short out a 9v battery to make a field expedient lighter.

Blow gun darts when coupled with a wad of paper on the end to stabilize in flight.

One or two of the larger ones can be used to splint a broken finger.

Essential item.

When collecting water by the plastic bag/transpiration method the water should be frequently removed to encourage the plant to produce more.

The cut corner is best sealed by a fold and paper clip.

Heavy-duty twist tie. BTW an even better twist tie material is the plastic-coated wire in toy product packaging, used to fix many toys to a cardboard backing. It may not be too late to dig some out of your trash can from Christmas, hurry !

Retrieval device. Straighten out a paper clip then bend a tiny hook into the end, to fish for something in a tight place, behind a hole in drywall, etc.

Reminder. Kindof like tying a string to your finger, clip it to your shirt pocket, etc.

Bic lighter safety device. You can keep the button on a Bic lighter from depressing unintentionally by wrapping wire or twist tie material around the body of the lighter and passing it under the button. (Don't let this keep you from testing them periodically; as others have noted the flint material seems to go unexpectedly sometimes.)

Rocket launcher. When I was a kid we made these little rockets from a single paper match that is wrapped with chewing gum foil, covering the match head and 2/3 of the match "body". (Regular foil was too heavy, and it was a good excuse to use up chewing gum. I don't know if gum is covered with real foil any more.) A paper clip that was bent open to form an angle of about 30 degrees served as the launch pad. We placed the rocket on the paper clip then held a lit *wooden* match (wooden because it burned longer) under the paper match head. After 10-20 seconds the paper match head would ignite and the rocket would shoot a few feet. Caution: don't try to scale this beyond a single paper match, people have been seriously hurt by things like that.

Steve