Reply #3: What the phrase nut cutting time means literally (It's not what it sounds like)

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

It doesn't refer to castration, though it sure sounds that way.

It's when you have tried everything to remove a rusted-in-place or stripped nut in an industrial context, twisting, heating, etc.

When every way of turning the nut proves hopeless you have to physically cut the nut off of the bolt.

So it's the acceptance of an extreme measure when every lesser step has failed.

Just thought folks might like to know where the phrase originated.