A change in terminology

Helix doesn’t call “copying” copying. Instead, you’ll hear the word “yanking”. Pasting, at least, is still called pasting.

This is a habit Helix inherited from Vi and Vim, where the copy command has been called “yank” for decades. It likely started because the letter c was already taken (it means “change”), so an unused letter got the job and a word was found to match it.

In any case, “yanking” just means copying. Every time you see y in this lesson, think “copy”.