The German phrase is die Entscheidungsgrundlage — the basis for the decision. It is spoken of as a thing that either exists or does not. Uns fehlt noch die Entscheidungsgrundlage — we still lack the basis for the decision — halts a German meeting, and nobody treats it as obstruction.
The complaints body
Die Beschwerdestelle. German equal treatment law requires every employer to designate a body to which employees may bring complaints, and to inform staff that it exists. The route out of a private grievance is provided in advance, by statute.
Buffer time
Buffer time. German project planning builds slack into the schedule itself, allocated to specific stages and carried in the plan. It is not contingency held to one side. It is time that was planned, for events that were not.
Firm employment
Permanent employment. Fest means firm, solid, fixed — the same word used of a building’s foundation and of a firmly held conviction. Eine feste Stelle haben is a statement about one’s position in life, not only about a contract.
The model building code
The Musterbauordnung is drafted nationally and then adopted, with variations, by each state. The template is written first and the local rule derives from it.
Late and complete
Lieber richtig als schnell — rather correct than fast.
Was lange währt, wird endlich gut — what takes long becomes good in the end.
Gründlichkeit geht vor Schnelligkeit — thoroughness before speed.
Pfusch am Bau — botched building work, the standard German phrase for what haste produces.
Four ordinary expressions, all approving delay and all naming the same alternative.
Collective bargaining by sequence
Tarifverhandlungen. German collective bargaining runs through a defined sequence — rounds, a declared failure, then Schlichtung, arbitration by an agreed neutral, before any industrial action. The procedure is designed to keep a dispute that is genuinely felt inside a form that is not.
The status report
German project practice runs on a scheduled report — monthly, fortnightly, at defined milestones — rather than on continuous contact. The client is informed regularly and is not consulted continuously. The rhythm is agreed at the start, and keeping to it is what maintains the relationship.
One verb for thrift
Sparen means both to save money and to economise on anything. German appliances have Sparprogramme, cars have Spritsparen, buildings have Energiesparen. One verb covers thrift and efficiency, and Germans use it for both without noticing the join.
Cobbler, stay with your lasts
Cobbler, stay with your lasts.
The story is from Pliny the Elder. A shoemaker criticized the sandal in a painting by Apelles, and the painter corrected it. When the cobbler went on to criticize the leg, the painter told him to stop.
The German use of the phrase is not an instruction in modesty. It asserts the opposite of what it appears to say: within your last, your judgment outranks anyone’s.