手抜き（てぬき、tenuki）
- cutting corners

The Japanese word 手抜き （てぬき, tenuki） generally means to cut corners, to do something half-heartedly, or to be sloppy or perfunctory in one's work. It implies a lack of effort, care, or thoroughness, often resulting in a lower quality outcome. The word suggests a deliberate choice to reduce effort or resources, sometimes to save time or money. It can also refer to omitting necessary steps or processes. The feeling behind 手抜き is usually negative because it indicates poor effort. The core idea is the act of "taking the hands away" or "not using one's hands" properly, metaphorically. The verb form of this is 手抜きをする （てぬきをする, tenuki o suru), which means "to cut corners" or "to slack off".

⚫︎ あのレストランは料理に手抜きをしている。 Translation: That restaurant is cutting corners with its food. ⚫︎ 宿題に手抜きをしないで、きちんとやりなさい。 Translation: Don't slack off on your homework; do it properly. ⚫︎ プレゼンテーションは手抜きせずに、しっかり準備しました。 Translation: I prepared well for the presentation without cutting any corners.

This word is used in various contexts, from describing poor work quality in professional settings to talking about laziness in everyday life. It's often used when something is done poorly or not up to standard. You can use it when you want to express that someone has not put in the necessary effort, or when you observe the consequences of such an action. When you are the one that did something in a perfunctory manner, you would want to avoid using this word, since it would be considered as admitting fault.

手抜き is written in kanji and hiragana. ・Kanji: 手抜き ・Hiragana: てぬき There are no other common ways to write this word. The okurigana is fixed.

⚫︎ いい加減 （いいかげん, iikagen): irresponsible, careless, sloppy. ⚫︎ 怠ける （なまける, namakeru): to be lazy, to slack off. ⚫︎ 手を抜く （てをぬく, te o nuku): to cut corners; this is the verb form of 手抜き. ⚫︎ いい加減な仕事 （いいかげんなしごと, iikagen na shigoto): sloppy work. ⚫︎ ずさん (zusann): slipshod, shoddy.

⚫︎ 丁寧 （ていねい, teinei): polite, careful, thorough. ⚫︎ 真面目 （まじめ, majime): serious, diligent, earnest. ⚫︎ 熱心 （ねっしん, nesshin): enthusiastic, zealous. ⚫︎ 一生懸命 （いっしょうけんめい, isshoukenmei): with all one's effort, very hard.

彼はプロジェクトに手抜きをして、上司に怒られた。 ・Translation: He cut corners on the project and got scolded by his boss. ・Explanation: This sentence describes a situation where someone's lack of effort led to negative consequences.

この料理は、手抜きなしで作られたので、とても美味しいです。 ・Translation: This dish was made without cutting corners, so it's very delicious. ・Explanation: This sentence highlights the positive result of not skimping on effort in cooking.

The word 手抜き is a combination of 手 （て, te), meaning "hand," and 抜き （ぬき, nuki), which is the continuative stem of the verb 抜く （ぬく, nuku), meaning "to extract, to omit, to pull out". The literal meaning suggests the action of taking one's hands away from the task or omitting steps or ingredients. Therefore, 手抜き literally means "taking hands away" or "omitting". The etymology directly reflects the meaning of the word: to not give full effort, to cut away or omit parts of a process.