Origin of the word "trombone" in the sense of "paperclip"?

Question

With school around the corner, I got a package of paperclips and I notice the French translation for *paperclip* is the word *trombone*. What does this have to do with the instrument? They look quite similar to me, *paperclips* and *trombones*. Is this just slang or official? Which came first?

Answer 1

The word "trombone" is the official word for "paperclip". It seems that the name is inspired by the musical instrument because of its shape.