German idioms rarely translate word for word, which is what makes them useful. Get one right in a meeting and you sound like someone who has lived with the language rather than revised it. Here are five that come up often in German working life, what each one means in English, and when to reach for it.

“Das ist nicht mein Bier”: meaning and when to use it

Literally: that is not my beer. In English: that is not my cup of tea, though the closer translation is that is not my department.

Germans use it to decline involvement without sounding rude. It draws a line around what you are responsible for, which makes it well suited to work. Note the difference from the English cup of tea, which is about personal taste. The German is nearer to not my problem, said politely.

“Marketingstrategien? Das ist nicht mein Bier. Ich konzentriere mich lieber auf Finanzen.”

Marketing strategies? Not my department. I would rather focus on finance.

“Ich verstehe nur Bahnhof”: meaning in English

Literally: I understand only train station. In English: it is all Greek to me.

The phrase is thought to date from the First World War, when soldiers waiting to go home could think of little beyond the station. Use it when you have genuinely lost the thread, not when you have merely missed a word. It is informal but not impolite, and admitting it early saves a great deal of trouble later.

“Kannst du die Quartalszahlen erklären?”
“Tut mir leid, da verstehe ich nur Bahnhof.”

Can you explain the quarterly figures?
Sorry, it is all Greek to me.

“Um den heißen Brei herumreden”: meaning and when to use it

Literally: to talk around the hot porridge. In English: to beat about the bush.

This one earns its place in business German. It is the standard way to call out an answer that circles the point without landing on it, and it works as gentle pressure rather than an accusation. Useful in negotiations, and useful to recognise when it is aimed at you.

“Red nicht um den heißen Brei herum, können wir bis Freitag liefern oder nicht?”

Stop beating about the bush, can we deliver by Friday or not?

“Auf dem Holzweg sein”: meaning in English

Literally: to be on the timber track. In English: to be barking up the wrong tree.

A Holzweg is a forestry track cut for hauling felled timber. It leads to the clearing and then simply stops, so anyone following it expecting to reach somewhere ends up nowhere. That is the sense: not lying, but confidently mistaken. It is direct without being aggressive, which makes it usable when you need to correct a colleague who has the wrong end of a problem.

“Wenn Sie glauben, der Vertrag sei schon unterschrieben, sind Sie auf dem Holzweg.”

If you think the contract has already been signed, you are barking up the wrong tree.

“Da steppt der Bär”: meaning and when to use it

Literally: the bear dances there. In English: it is going to be a proper knees-up.

Strictly social, and firmly informal. It promises a good evening rather than describing one, so it belongs in the invitation and not in the report. Save it for the colleague who asks what the Christmas party is like.

“Beim deutschen Stammtisch in Shoreditch am Samstag, da steppt der Bär!”

At the German meetup in Shoreditch on Saturday, it is going to be a right knees-up.

Learning the phrases that are not in the textbook

Idioms are usually the last thing a course gets to and the first thing a native speaker notices. There are three more collections on this site: German idioms about clothes, idioms drawn from animals and food, and a general collection.

If you’d rather work through them with a tutor, I teach private German lessons in London and online German lessons.