I think G73 is a drilling routine, where the drill goes in a distance, then comes out to clear the flutes and goes back in again.
You are right, this is much the same thing, but we are talking about continuous cutting on a lathe, where you can, if you are set up "right" get one continuous 20thou thick sliver of swarf many feet long, The feed from the steppers is so smooth that there is no break in movement to stop the cutter "cutting", therefore you get one long ribbon.
Anybody know how the "big boys" combat this - there must be a method, otherwise CNC cabinets would look worse than that stadium in China.