This is the best thing in OS X that I've seen for ages:
http://www.macworld.com/2005/05/secrets/juneosxhints/index.php
*Clean up text using services:summarise*
Have you ever come across a selection of text you’d like to keep—for
example, a how-to on a Web page or an article on your local paper’s
site? You may have tried copying it and pasting it into TextEdit or
Stickies, only to end up with the text and all its distracting
formatting, links, and spacing. Here’s a quick and easy workaround.
If the program you’re using supports OS X’s Services feature (as is the
case for most Apple apps, as well as The Omni Group’s products and Bare
Bones’ BBEdit), you can use the Summarize service to clean up the text
for easy saving. Start by selecting the text within the source
application, and then choose application name: Services: Summarize.
Using Font Book by itself to preview many fonts simultaneously is
difficult. So press F10 to access Exposé’s Application Windows mode
and clearly preview each font in its own window.
A new window will open, and you’ll see a cleaned-up version of your
text. Next, move the Summary Size slider to the 100% mark; this will
force the service to show every word in your original selection. Then
press Command-C to copy the text to the Clipboard (it’s already all
selected by default), switch to your final destination (a Stickies
note, a Word document, or whatever), and press Command-V to paste.
If the text isn’t in a Services-aware application, drop it into
TextEdit as your first step. If you have TextEdit in Plain Text mode
(go to TextEdit: Preferences), doing so will get rid of almost all the
formatting. Using the Summarize service will then remove any remaining
excess line breaks and other oddities.
