ネック

• Reading: ネック
• Romaji: nekku
• Pronunciation: /nek.kɯ/

Meaning

Neck; bottleneck. A problem or obstacle that hinders progress.

A katakana loanword from English 'neck.' While it can refer to the physical neck or the neck of a bottle or guitar, in Japanese it is most commonly used figuratively to mean a bottleneck or sticking point — the thing holding back progress. The phrase ネックになる (to become a bottleneck) is extremely common in business and project discussions. ボトルネック is also used but ネック alone is more colloquial.

Examples

1. コスト削減がこのプロジェクトのネックになっている。 Cost reduction is the bottleneck of this project.
2. 人手不足が事業拡大のネックだ。 A shortage of workers is the bottleneck for business expansion.
3. 納期の短さがネックで受注を断念した。 The tight deadline was a sticking point, so we gave up on taking the order.

Usage Guide

Context: business, project management, problem-solving

Tone: pragmatic

Origin & History

Borrowed from English 'neck,' specifically from the concept of a 'bottleneck.' The figurative meaning of an obstacle or constraint became the primary usage in Japanese business language.

Cultural Context

Era: Post-war

Generation: Adults

Social background: Universal