A Bottleneck Is Named After Your Neck
The neck joins the head to the body. The word names any narrow connecting part.
The neck is the part joining the head to the body, and by extension any narrow connecting section. That extension is everywhere: the neck of a bottle, of a guitar, of a violin, of land between two seas, and the *bottleneck* in traffic or production. All of them borrow the same idea of a constriction that limits what passes through. Giraffes have exactly seven neck vertebrae, the same number as humans and almost every other mammal.
- The body part. *A stiff neck.*
- A narrow part. *The neck of the bottle.*
- A guitar neck. *The neck.*
- Bottleneck. *A bottleneck.*
- Old English — *hnecca*. *The source.*
Word forms
| Form | Word | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Noun | neck | A neck. |
| Plural | necks | Necks. |
| Compound | necklace | A necklace. |
| Compound | bottleneck | A bottleneck. |
| Old English | hnecca | The neck. |
- He rubbed his neck.Body.
- The neck of the bottle.Object.
- A neck of land.Geography.
Neck phrases
- Neck and neck — exactly level in a race
- Breathing down your neck — watching too closely
- Stick your neck out — take a risk
- Up to your neck — deeply involved
- Neck of the woods — a local area
Old English *hnecca*, the back of the neck, of Germanic origin, related to German *Nacken*.
Why is a traffic jam called a bottleneck?
Because a bottle's narrow neck limits how much can pass through, exactly as a road constriction does.
How many neck bones does a giraffe have?
Seven, the same as a human. The bones are simply much longer.