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<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>cut a tape</title><link rel="stylesheet" href="../../jargon.css" type="text/css"/><meta name="generator" content="DocBook XSL Stylesheets V1.61.0"/><link rel="home" href="../index.html" title="The Jargon File"/><link rel="up" href="../C.html" title="C"/><link rel="previous" href="cuspy.html" title="cuspy"/><link rel="next" href="cybercrud.html" title="cybercrud"/></head><body><div class="navheader"><table width="100%" summary="Navigation header"><tr><th colspan="3" align="center">cut a tape</th></tr><tr><td width="20%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="cuspy.html">Prev</a> </td><th width="60%" align="center">C</th><td width="20%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="cybercrud.html">Next</a></td></tr></table><hr/></div><dt><a id="cut-a-tape"/><dt xmlns="" id="cut-a-tape"><b>cut a tape</b>: <span xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" class="grammar">vi.</span></dt></dt><dd><p> To write a software or document distribution on magnetic tape for
shipment. Has nothing to do with physically cutting the medium! Early
versions of this lexicon claimed that one never analogously speaks of
&#8216;cutting a disk&#8217;, but this has since been reported as live
usage. Related slang usages are mainstream business's &#8216;cut a
check&#8217;, the recording industry's &#8216;cut a record&#8217;, and the
military's &#8216;cut an order&#8217;.</p><p>All of these usages reflect physical processes in obsolete recording
and duplication technologies. The first stage in manufacturing an
old-style vinyl record involved cutting grooves in a stamping die with a
precision lathe. More mundanely, the dominant technology for mass
duplication of paper documents in pre-photocopying days involved
&#8220;<span class="quote">cutting a stencil</span>&#8221;, punching away portions of the wax overlay
on a silk screen. More directly, paper tape with holes punched in it was
an important early storage medium. See also
<a href="../B/burn-a-CD.html"><i class="glossterm">burn a CD</i></a>.</p></dd><div class="navfooter"><hr/><table width="100%" summary="Navigation footer"><tr><td width="40%" align="left"><a accesskey="p" href="cuspy.html">Prev</a> </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="u" href="../C.html">Up</a></td><td width="40%" align="right"> <a accesskey="n" href="cybercrud.html">Next</a></td></tr><tr><td width="40%" align="left" valign="top">cuspy </td><td width="20%" align="center"><a accesskey="h" href="../index.html">Home</a></td><td width="40%" align="right" valign="top"> cybercrud</td></tr></table></div></body></html>