cut a tape

cut a tape

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.