"Carlos thinks he's cut!"

The name of our midday eating clique is the 'lunch bunch'. It's evolved over the years, but anyone who was once in it is always welcome to the table. We're an English only group and ages vary from 22-75. Sometimes when the younger hens are holding court, my voice tends to diminish into a light-weight din. It's of no particular consequence as I find myself often amused by that chatterbox banter.
So, one afternoon Leona, who was a newlywed for the second time was talking about her then boyfriend, Carlos. "Men in my family always wear a T when they are in the water. Doesn't matter if it's the pool, a lake, or the ocean. Either a T or a wife beater."
(Did she just say 'wife beater')?
"Well, Carlos wasn't having any of that. Carlos went in topless. Imagine this guy going into the water with nothing on next to my brothers and cousins. Carlos thinks he's cut!"
When I heard that my eyes must have bulged in the sockets. I looked at the wise African American nurse and she cracked a smile. So I whispered, "He thinks he's cut? In my culture, a man usually knows. In most cases it's documented!"
She was laughing herself silly over that one. She told me that 'cut' was a description of this chest and abdomen. Like being ripped or having a six pack.
"A six pack?" I asked. "Wouldn't that mean he's got a beer belly?"
That one was explained to me as well. Can't believe that English has been my native language for over 60 years and I never came across the notion of a man thinking that he were cut before!