If I understand correctly, I would say " In particular, there exists a possibility for the two frequencies to "attract" and become locked together, so
that slight tuning of either string does not affect the frequency of either but only the decay rates. This is what we meant by saying that a slight
"mistuning" of the strings does not necessarily lead to the appearance of beats. "
This is similar (though not exactly the same) to the well-known effect (though I've never tested it) of two pendulum clocks that are timed slightly
differently coming into exact synchronization when they placed close together.
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