The extreme example being the lowly paperclip - in one study (admittedly done several decades ago), one one paperclip in 10 actually got used to clip papers together. The rest went to a variety of uses, many of which involve the wire being bent until it becomes a different tool. Or even just mangled as a convenient outlet for a desire to fidget.

Very true. I have used some paper-clips as screwdrivers. Those were of course paper-clips with a sharp end, like

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not those with a round end like

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