Sorry for the odd usage. The idea is taking a shortcut through a field and caking your boots in mud, or cheating in Game of Thrones and caking your sword in blood. I could have worded it better for sure.
FWIW, I think it was great (enough that it wouldn't hurt elaborating on the analogy when introducing it).
My mind went to machinery turning rigid and clunky over time due to being caked-in with a crust of thickening dust/rust/tech-debt, especially concentrated on sections "hot-fixed" with the metaphorical duct-tape/glue/lube/almost-fitting-spare.
If you want your machinery running smoothly and be easily servicable with off-the-shelf-parts, you can't skimp on maintenance for too long.
