“We can always walk away.” This direct statement illustrates the American logic that participation in an agreement is voluntary and can be ended if it no longer serves one’s interests.
figures of speech
“Vertrag ist Vertrag”
Vertrag ist Vertrag. A contract is a contract. A contract is binding – period. Changes or renegotiations are often seen as unprofessional. This expression highlights the German preference for legal certainty and clear agreements.
“Auf Worte müssen Taten folgen”
Auf Worte müssen Taten folgen. Words must be followed by actions. Empty promises are useless. In German negotiation culture, it is expected that statements will be consistently put into practice.
What’s said is said.
Was gesagt ist, ist gesagt. What’s said is said. This statement emphasizes that you have to stand by your words. Once statements have been made, they are considered binding, and backtracking makes you appear unreliable and weak.
Feilschen
Expressions such as Was kostet die Welt? (What does the world cost?) convey a dismissive attitude toward price discussions, implying that serious and respectable people should not concern themselves with trivial cost negotiations. Additionally, the term Feilschen (to haggle) often carries a negative connotation, suggesting pettiness, desperation, or a lack of class.
Besserwisser
Wikipedia: A know-it-all is colloquially referred to as a person who expresses their opinion in an instructive and intrusive manner and thus gives the impression that they have more knowledge or education in certain (or in all) matters or can judge better than others.
People take offense at the behavior of such know-it-alls – not so much because they are envious of their knowledge (alleged or actual), but because they teach others uninvited, but are closed to the opinions, arguments and knowledge of other people.
This creates an air of arrogance and lack of tact. Exaggerated competitive behavior is also perceived as unpleasant by people who are discussing less out of interest in the topic than to be right.
Besserwisser literally besser, better + wisser, from wissen, to know. Better-knower.
Honesty is the best policy
Ehrlich währt am längsten. Honesty is the best policy. Integrity and sincerity are considered important principles in Germany—even if they can lead to longer negotiations. The goal is to gain the trust of your negotiating partners in the long term.
Under the hood
German products focus on the technical. German advertising focuses on the technical. Cars are often presented without the driver, wristwatches without the wrist, newspapers without reader or author. Quality should speak for itself.
German tabloids may personalize the news by displaying large-format photos. Serious publications do not. Content should speak for itself. For Germans it is self-stated that a good product or service aims to serve people. A view under the hood of the car is, therefore, more persuasive than a happy face behind a steering wheel.
“Not about me!”
In German politics one hears time and again: Es geht hier um die Sache! – this is about substance. Or Es geht hier nicht um meine Person! – this is not about me as a person.
This is the German politician’s way of saying, that their political program, not them as a politician, is the focus, is at center stage. They want to persuade based on their message, not by who they are. As if one could make a clear distinction between the two.
In 2013 two women in the CDU (Christian Democratic Union – the party of Chancellor Angela Merkel) – Katrin Albsteiger and Barbara Lanzinger – ran against each other in a party-internal race for an election to the Bundestag in Berlin. German political parties do not have primary races. Neither of them, however, spoke of a Machtkampf – literally: power battle – between them.
“This is not about me”, Albsteiger wrote. “This is not about my person”, Lanzinger said in an interview. But it was about them. As members of the same party they stood for the same political platform. They had no other choice but to persuade the other party members that they could win in the general election.