CUT A TAPE
\kˈʌt ɐ tˈe͡ɪp], \kˈʌt ɐ tˈeɪp], \k_ˈʌ_t ɐ t_ˈeɪ_p]\
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To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tapefor shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting themedium! "Cutting a disk" has also been reported as liveusage. Related slang usages are mainstream business's "cut acheck", the recording industry's "cut a record", and themilitary's "cut an order".All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsoleterecording and duplication technologies. The first stage inmanufacturing an old-style vinyl record involved cuttinggrooves in a stamping die with a precision lathe. Moremundanely, the dominant technology for mass duplication ofpaper documents in pre-photocopying days involved "cutting astencil", punching away portions of the wax overlay on a silkscreen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in itwas an important early storage medium.
By Denis Howe
Word of the day
dust storm
- a windstorm that lifts up clouds of dust or sand a windstorm that lifts up clouds dust or sand; "it was the kind of duster not experienced in years"