When talking about ropes and cables they are called strands.
This is another case where it depends. As well it might be more a thing of vintage days when cables were not as good a steel as they are now.
Most cables today will probably survive any tightening and you'd either break the pinch bolt or strip the corners off the hex that your wrench fits in or on. Though I can see where some cheap'o designs might smash the cable strands and then let them break from getting work hardened over time as they flex. Sort of like when you bend a coat hanger wire multiple times to break it at a certain point.
Last edited by Iride01; 03-24-22 at 01:27 PM.