Duden gives the word privat three meanings. The first is about one’s own person. The second is nicht offiziell, nicht amtlich, nicht geschäftlich; außerdienstlich, not official, not governmental, not business, off-duty.
Ich bin privat hier. — I am here privately, not in my professional role.
Das ist meine Privatsache. — That is my private matter.
Berufliches und Privates trennen — to keep the professional and the private apart
dienstlich, außerdienstlich — on duty, off duty
The Trier guide for students tells of a professor who at first said du to her staff. Over the years she found that younger staff found it increasingly hard to say du to a respected and older superior. She also found that it is much easier to criticize staff, to warn them or even to dismiss them, when one is on Sie terms with them. According to the guide, most professors therefore switch at some point in their careers to an obligatory Sie with new staff, if they have not used it from the start. The guide also says who makes the first move. A research assistant would hardly offer the du to the head of department, but the other way round would be more conceivable.
The Morbiditäts- und Mortalitätskonferenz is a regular hospital meeting about complications and deaths. A case that went badly is presented, and the team asks what happened. In 2016 the German Medical Association published a guide for these meetings. It says the discussion should be sach- und nicht personenbezogen, about the matter and not about the person. It should concentrate on facts and processes, not on people. The aim is to work through critical events free of blame. It should be possible to ask “Why?”, and doctors in senior positions must be ready to have their own mistakes discussed. Among the obstacles the guide lists is a discussion that focuses on blame and individual mistakes.
Streitkultur is the culture of disputing, the way people argue. Duden gives eine gesunde Streitkultur, a healthy culture of dispute, as an example of its use. In October 2019 Federal President Frank-Walter Steinmeier spoke in Berlin at an event titled “Demokratie unter Druck – für eine neue politische Streitkultur.” It was time, he said, for new round tables in the country, “nicht zur Vermeidung von Streit, sondern zum Gelingen des Streits”, not to avoid dispute but to make dispute succeed. He asked for a way of arguing that lets us “dem Gegenüber auch am Tag nach dem Streit noch aufrecht in die Augen schauen”, still look the other person straight in the eye the day after the dispute.
sich zusammenraufen — to tussle one’s way together. Duden: to reach an understanding step by step after more or less fierce arguments.
ein reinigendes Gewitter — a cleansing thunderstorm. Duden’s example: der Streit wirkte wie ein reinigendes Gewitter, the quarrel worked like a cleansing thunderstorm.
reinen Tisch machen — to make a clean table, to create clear conditions.
Nichts für ungut! — No offense meant. Duden: it is not meant badly. It is said after a blunt remark, and it does not take the remark back.
On 4 December 1926 Albert Einstein wrote to Max Born about the new quantum mechanics. He began with respect: Die Quantenmechanik ist sehr achtunggebietend. (Quantum mechanics commands great respect.) Aber eine innere Stimme sagt mir, daß das noch nicht der wahre Jakob ist. (But an inner voice tells me that this is not yet the real thing.) The theory delivered a lot, he wrote, but it hardly brought us closer to the secret of the Old One. Jedenfalls bin ich überzeugt, daß der nicht würfelt. (In any case I am convinced that He does not play dice.) Until his death in 1955 Einstein tried in vain to find a deterministic theory behind it. Experiments later disproved his conclusions. But the observations behind his objections proved correct and fundamental. German Wikipedia says he was the first to put his finger in an open wound.
Around 1939 Bertolt Brecht wrote a poem called Lob des Zweifels, In Praise of Doubt. It begins: Gelobt sei der Zweifel! Ich rate euch, begrüßt mir / Heiter und mit Achtung den / Der euer Wort wie einen schlechten Pfennig prüft! (Praised be doubt! I advise you, greet cheerfully and with respect the one who tests your word like a bad coin.) He goes on: Ich wollte, ihr wäret weise und gäbt / Euer Wort nicht allzu zuversichtlich. (I wish you were wise and did not give your word too confidently.)
Die Verhandlungen waren hart, aber fair. The negotiations were hard but fair. German negotiators often say this after a difficult round, sometimes on both sides of the table. The two words do not contradict each other. Hart describes the pressure. Fair describes whether the result can be accepted. After a wage agreement in the mineral water industry of North Rhine-Westphalia in May 2022, the food workers’ union explained its result to members in one sentence: Der gefundene Kompromiss ist fair, weil er die Positionen beider Seiten berücksichtigt. The compromise is fair because it takes the positions of both sides into account.
Geschäft ist Geschäft. — Business is business. Duden explains it: when money is involved, one cannot take feelings into account.
Beim Geld hört die Freundschaft auf. — Where money begins, friendship ends.
Bei Geldfragen hört die Gemütlichkeit auf. — Where money is concerned, the friendly mood ends. The banker David Hansemann said it in the Prussian United Diet in 1847, in a debate on a state loan for a railroad. It quickly became a common saying.
Dienst ist Dienst und Schnaps ist Schnaps. — Duty is duty and schnapps is schnapps.
From 27 September to 4 October 1529, Martin Luther, Huldrych Zwingli and other reformers met at Marburg, at the invitation of Landgrave Philipp of Hesse. During the debate on the Lord’s Supper, Luther pulled back the tablecloth to show the words Das ist mein Leib, this is my body, which he had written in chalk on the table beforehand. The result was the Marburg Articles. In 14 articles the theologians recorded what they agreed on. The 15th article, on the Lord’s Supper, listed further points of agreement and then recorded in writing the one point on which they did not agree. They had not agreed dißer Zeit, at this time, whether the true body and blood of Christ are bodily present in the bread and wine. Both sides still promised each other Christian love, so fer yedes gewiessen ymmer leyden kann, as far as each conscience can bear. Ten theologians signed it, Luther and Zwingli among them. The document is dated 3 October 1529.