Cut the strings 

Refers to the strings of a puppet. Cutting the strings means that you are being "real" and not fantasizing or dreaming about something. Being a puppet means that you are not responsible, not a man, always dreaming about unrealistic things. Cutting the strings means you stop and think rationally about something.

Me: "what if we made our own shoe brand and moved to California selling the best shoes ever!"
Bro: "dude, cut the strings, you know that ain't never gonna happen"

Cut the strings by Hausenfef October 18, 2016

cut the strings 

An exclamatory phase instructing someone to immediately stop whatever they are doing, usually for the dire safty of themselve and/or others.

Derivered from the U.S. Army Air Assualt school, where it is a command yelled out when a helicopter's towed payload has snaged on something, and the crew has only a few split seconds before the tow lines go taunt and the helicopter crashes.

Can be accompanied by or said silently with the Army hand signal of holding one arm straight and level ahead with palm open and down, then moving the other arm in an open palm-down horizontal repeated cutting motion underneath the straight arm.

Bob had too much to drink at the bar, and his friends couldn't help but notice. At first they where just humerously watching; but when Bob started to hit on a shemale, they caught his attention with handsignals while mouthing the words "CUT THE STRINGS!"

cut the strings by awelltrainedferret May 7, 2007

cut the apron strings

breaking free from dependency on another person

Once I graduated from college, my mom had to cut the apron strings. she would no longer enable me. Tough love, you know.

cut the apron strings by amycocoa June 2, 2014