cutting corners
Sacrificing quality cheaply
Cutting corners is taking shortcuts that compromise quality or thoroughness to save time, money, or effort.
The image is of rounding a corner rather than following the full path.
The phrase nearly always carries negative connotations—suggesting negligence or cheating: The contractor was cutting corners on safety.
If you cut corners on the research, the whole project suffers.
- skimpingProviding less than needed
- cost cuttingReducing expenditures deliberately
- shoddinessInferior construction quality
- shortcutQuicker alternative path
- slapdashHasty and careless
phoning it in · fudging · haste · bending · rush · mess · recklessness · expediency · careless · sloppy · half-assed · botch · jerry-rigged · negligence · duct-tape · repercussions · risk · band-aid solution
- Strategic Mistakesmiscalculation, overconfidence, underestimation, poor timing, overextension
- bad decisionsprocrastination, impulse buying, overspending, binge eating, cramming
- bad habitssmoking, drinking, lying, swearing, gossiping
- behaviorshabit, aggressive, agitation, conduct, passive
- frugalityfrugality, thrift, frugal, penny-pinching, economize
- reducingshrinking, lessening, diminishing, decreasing, cutting back
cutting cornersgoing the extra mile
Surpassing what's asked
leaving no stone unturned · dotting the i's and crossing the t's · sparing no effort · following through · perfectionism
cutting cornersgoing above and beyond
craftsmanship · perfectionism · being honest · gold-plating · overengineering
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