骨抜き

1. Origins, structure, and basic meaning

• Structure: 骨抜き, read ほねぬき, means removing bones and, figuratively, stripping something of its essential substance or force.
• Basic usage: A cook may debone a fish, while repeated revisions may leave an original plan hollowed out.

2. Common pitfalls and similar expressions

• Removing bones and stripping away substance
  • It has a literal sense of removing bones from fish and a figurative sense of repeated revisions stripping a plan of its substance.