How do I paste a column of text after a different column of text in Vim?

Question

I have two columns full of text, and I want to get them side-by-side. For example, I have

abc
def
ghi

and

123
456
789
         


        

Answer 1

This may seem obvious, but if you are pasting from an externally copied buffer it will not work with just visual mode paste. What you can do is first do a normal paste in an empty area and vertical cut/paste using the above method.