手抜き

• Reading: てぬき
• Romaji: tenuki
• Kanji breakdown: 手 (hand) + 抜き (pulling out/removing) → removing effort, cutting corners
• Pronunciation: /te.nɯ.ki/

Meaning

Cutting corners — doing something in a lazy, half-hearted way, skipping proper effort to save time or energy.

From the image of 'pulling out your hands' (not putting your hands into the work), 手抜き describes the act of doing something below the expected standard of effort. It's used for everything from cooking (手抜き料理 = lazy cooking) to construction (手抜き工事 = shoddy construction). While sometimes used lightheartedly for minor shortcuts, it becomes a serious criticism when applied to professional work. In Japan's quality-conscious culture, being accused of 手抜き is a significant insult to one's work ethic.

Examples

1. この料理、明らかに手抜きじゃない？ This dish is obviously cutting corners, isn't it?
2. 手抜き工事のせいで雨漏りしてるんだけど。 The shoddy construction is causing the roof to leak.
3. 忙しい日は手抜きご飯でいいよね。 On busy days, a lazy dinner is totally fine, right?

Usage Guide

Context: friends, workplace, casual conversation

Tone: critical, accusatory

Do Say

• 手抜きでもいいから、とりあえず作って。 (It's fine to cut corners — just make something.)
• 手抜きご飯の日があってもいいじゃん。 (It's okay to have lazy dinner days.)

Don't Say

• プロの仕事に「手抜きですね」は非常に失礼 (Telling a professional their work is 'half-assed' is extremely rude)

Common Mistakes

• Not distinguishing between lighthearted 手抜き (casual shortcut, like lazy cooking) and serious 手抜き (professional negligence, like shoddy construction)

Origin & History

Standard Japanese compound from 手 (hand) and 抜き (pulling out/removing). The metaphor of removing one's hands from work to indicate lazy effort has been in use for generations.

Cultural Context

Era: Traditional expression, not era-specific

Generation: All ages

Social background: Universal

Regional notes: Used nationwide. In Japan's quality-conscious culture, professional 手抜き is taken very seriously.