REDEN & DISKUTIEREN
Politiker/manche Leute sind oft sehr schlagfertig/wortgewandt = politicians are usually very articulate; he is proud of being a quick-witted/razor-sharp/laser-sharp person; my father has a way with words; some people have the gift of doing some quick/fast thinking; she has the gift of the gab; he/she is an outstanding impromptu speaker
wir wissen dass Politiker gerne überfrachten = we all know that politicians gild the lily
er/sie bringt es immer auf den Punkt = his/her comments are usually right on the money/spot on/bang on-trend/just what the doctor ordered; to get his message across he/she always keeps hammering away at the desired point until he/she gets the result he wants Kommen Sie endlich auf den Punkt! = come on, just cut to the chase
ein Schlagabtausch/Verbalgefecht findet statt; es ging hoch her = the two financial experts traded barbs/blows/attacks about the state of the economy; this morning I listened to a war of words/verbal sparring/spirited discussion between two political leaders; yesterday on TV two members of different opposing parties engaged in a sharp verbal spat/exchange/jousting/dispute/scuffle/altercation about the nation’s social inequities; business leaders exchanged harsh words with the finance minister; Australian PM brushes off verbal sledge (AUS) from his NZ counterpart
beide Kandidaten/Abgeordnete führen eine/n heftige/n Auseinandersetzung/Schlagabtausch = the two candidates were engaging in a lively shouting/slanging match/were waging a rhetoric wars/were having a heated verbal spat/exchange; the other day the two MPs dissed each other/kept hurling abuse at each other/exchanged fire/unpleasantries on national TV; both candidates took a swing at their economic pitches/approaches
laut Pressemeldungen hat während der Debatte einer der Kandidaten den anderen richtig fertig gemacht = in line with media releases one of the candidates shot down/skunked his/her counterpart, who was unable to counter the opposing arguments effectively during the debate; the experienced candidate played hardball with his rookie opponent
viele Journalisten/Moderatoren sind sich einig, dass der Kandidat seine Vorliebe für rassistische und sexistische Verunglimpfungen und beleidigende Spitznamen ablegen muss = many journalists/hosts agree that the candidate needs to discard his penchant for racial and sexist slurs/tropes and offensive/insulting nicknames
der bekannte Künstler hat sich in die kulturelle Diskussion eingeklinkt = the renowned artist weighed into the cultural debate
zwei Geschäftsmänner tauschen sich über die Börse aus = both businessmen traded/shared views on the stock market
er/sie redet zu viel = he suffers from verbal diarrhrea; he’s one of these persons who can talk till he pops; she kept talking away/chirping away the whole night
sie ist eine Quasselstrippe = she’s a chatterbox/busybody/very talkative person; blabber/blabbermouth
mal sehen, wie man seine hochtrabende Rhetorik ausbremst = let’s try to cool his eloquent rhetoric
diesmal war die Reaktion auf die Äußerungen vom Fußballer noch schärfer = this time the flak for the football player’s remarks was even more savage than before
er redet gepflegt/ist ein Wortakrobat = he is a very articulate speaker/skilled wordsmith
er sagt was er meint ohne Umschweife = he is very outspoken when stating his opinions; she expresses/voices her views without much/ further ado
er/sie redet nur um den heißen Brei = stop beating about the bush; stop pussyfooting around and come clean; he/she should quit tiptoeing around the issue/ subject and get to the point/cut to the chase; she is just marking time with the issue; he keeps going round/running round in circles when he talks about his business ideas; my dad is used to saying things in a roundabout way; Is this serious debate or just sales talk?; OK guys, time for tinkering is over
immer nur hü und hott sagen; er/sie eiert nur rum (herum) = stop hemming (UK, humming) and hawing/to-ing and fro-ing and just cut to the chase; quit playing a waiting/cat-and-mouse game and get cracking; my supervisor keeps moving the goalposts; it’s too much back and forth; that’s the man: always dillydallying/wheeling and dealing/fiddling and diddling; come to the point and don’t muck around/fool around /fumble around/screw around (slightly vulgar)/f-around (slightly vulgar, pronounced “effing around”, a euphemism for “f***”) too much
die Meinungen schwanken in alle Richtungen = opinions flip-flop in all directions
Hör auf so viel dummes Zeug zu faseln/labern! = Just cut it out, will you? Why don’t you cut out this nonsense/crap? Cut out the funny business!
sie erzählen mir immer Märchen = they keep telling me tall stories from the department “Go Figure”/”Hard-to-believe”
hör auf, (he)rum zu albern = come on, let’s get serious now
man hat gut schönreden = in his memo the CFO tried hard to sugarcoat the poor shape of the corporation’s finances; sugaring the pill with some extra perks for the staff was a way to make up for the lack of a long-due salary raise/rise
es wird viel zerredet = the boss rubbished the new investment proposals/concept; my cousin always harps on the same string/problem; he never stops dwelling on that same old tedious subject of his; she talked about/dwelled on the topic for hours on end; the teacher rambled on the same old problem till doomsday/till he got blue in the face/til the wheels fell off; she just keeps waffling, at times pretty much off the point; political events /developments are sometimes overanalyzed
in Meetings/bei Vorträgen redet er/sie ohne Punkt und Komma/die ganze Zeit = some people just love rambling on (and on) during lectures/in meetings; she was talking up a storm the whole time; he is riding his hobby horse again as he keeps rambling/dwelling on his favorite subject for hours on end
den ganzen Nachmittag hat sie/er wie ein Weltmeister geredet = she was talking up a storm the whole afternoon; he is riding his hobby horse again as he keeps dwelling on his favorite subject for hours on end
sie rennen offene Türen ein/predigen umsonst = they keep preaching to the converted
er erging sich in unendlichen Monologen über Literatur = he waxed lyrical about literature and talked endlessly
ihre Rede langweilt die Zuhörer = the audience began to drift off as she rambled on and on
immer die gleiche Leier = as always the teacher sounded off about/on the usual subject
er hat Argumente angeführt, die die ganze Lage in ein besseres Licht rückt = he deployed arguments that put a favorable gloss on the whole situation
Darf ich mal einhaken? = allow me to chime in on the matter with a few words
Lassen Sie mich ausreden! = I am not through yet; don’t stop me (un)til(l) I’m through; let me go on/continue; hear me out, please
ich habe kaum eine Chance was zu sagen, weil er die ganze Zeit redet = I can barely get a word in edgeways because he keeps talking all the time
mein Onkel genießt zu dozieren/vornehmen zu reden = my uncle loves to pontificate on good manners/speak in a pompous way
Was gibt es noch dazu zu sagen? = What else is there still to say?
dies ist nicht der Rede wert/nur eine Nebensache/Randnotiz = that was no big deal/no great shakes; it’s not even worth talking about it; that can be relegated to just a footnote; what he said was nothing to write home about; his comment was an absolute/second-rate irrelevance; that was only a blip/a false dawn; it was just a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it remark/comment
Was sind die wichtigsten Eindrücke/Erkenntnisse/positive Punkte aus der Rede des VV? = What are the key takeaways/the positives from the chairman’s speech?
sie ließ wertvolle/nützliche Hinweise in die Debatte einfließen = she weighed in/chimed in on the debate with some valuable/useful suggestions
ihre Unterstellung ist völlig aus der Luft gegriffen = her claim/innuendo comes fully out of thin air/is plain rubbish
das ist alles nur Gefasel/Geschwafel/Pille-Palle = this is all nonsense/rubbish/garbage
wie aus heiterem Himmel = she was totally blindsided when her husband told her (that) he was having/conducting an affair; his sudden change of attitude on the issue just came out of the blue/was like a bolt from the blue; that was just a fluke/a flash in the pan
mit seinen schrägen Kommentaren manövrierte er sich ins Abseits = with his odd remarks he painted himself into a corner
er/sie steht auf dem Schlauch = he is at his wits’ end with all this arguing; "go figure", she said; she can’t figure out what’s going on at the office right now
er/sie hat es endlich gerafft/begriffen/geknackt = he/she was finally able to latch on/catch on/cotton on to the scheme; I guess he did tumble to our idea/proposition after all; he/she finally cracked it
er/sie hat es endlich gerafft/begriffen/geknackt = he/she was finally able to latch on/catch on/cotton on to the scheme; I guess he did tumble to our idea/proposition after all; he/she finally cracked it
er hat/wir haben ihn/sie/jemanden/den Gegner durchschaut/eins und eins zusammengezählt/er ist uns auf die Schliche gekommen = he called his bluff; we always try to second guess our opponents’ intentions; we have his/her number; I got him figured out; we can see through their motives/plans/act; we have him/them (e.g. a football team/player) worked out/figured out; she thinks she got him sussed out; one can easily read his/her mind/intentions; he/she can read people/see through a person; she just put two and two together; I guess/think he has tumbled to/has become aware of our illegal activities/operations; now we sort of know what he/she is/was up to
er hat den Braten gerochen = he smelled a rat; he could read between the lines (and knew what to expect); he/she second guessed it/his/ her action/move
wir kennen unsere Pappenheimer = we know the score
er/sie lässt sich nicht in die Karten sehen/schauen = he keeps his cards close to the chest; he has a card up his sleeve; he stayed/remained mum about the events/on the rumor /on the story; keep it/this information under your hat
der Groschen ist soeben gefallen = he just had a penny-drop/an aha moment; it just dawned on me that I still have to return your call; she/ he experienced/had an epiphany (i.e. person suddenly understood something which whad been previously unclear)
sie war sprachlos als sie hörte, sie sei befördert worden = she was at a loss for words when she heard she got promoted
Menschen sind manchmal mit ihrem Latein am Ende = most women are out at sea/at sixes and sevens when it comes to changing a tire; as a politician he has maxed out, so he’d better look for a new career; she seems to be at her wits’ end/at the end of her wits; the local press just melted down when they tried to explain the national soccer team’s stunning defeat
es wird nicht so heiß gegessen, wie es gekocht wird = this is not all it’s cracked up to be; “it’s not rocket science”, the manager said
der Journalist/Reporter strafte die Integrität der Politiker Lügen = the journalist was out to bust/take down/demolish/dispel/debunk the belief that not all politicians are lacking in integrity; a reporter affirms that claims that many politicians lack in integrity are unfounded/ unwarranted
die Zeitung möchte mit dem Mythos aufräumen, dass viele Politiker unehrlich und korrupt sind = the newspaper has been intending to debunk/to bust the myth/the notion/the theory that many politicians are dishonest and corrupt
manche Politiker wiederholen die gleichen Parolen gebetsmühlenartig = some politicians keep repeating/whorshipfully repear the same mantra over and over again
er versuchte reinzuinterpretieren, was sein Chef meinte = he tried to read into the boss’s words
erwarten Sie nicht zu viel von dieser Aussage/diesen Fakten, es kann irreführend sein = don’t read much into his statement/the statistical data, it can be misleading
er hat nicht offen zugegeben, dass er einen krassen Fehler begangen hat = he kept trying to explain away his course of action rather than openly admitting he had made a big mistake/blunder
sie kann gut dagegen halten = she attempted to blunt her friend’s edge/to stand her ground on a few hot-button issues/subjects; although she was rather unfamiliar with the subject, she hit back/stared him down/returned fire in the ensuing argument
Sei kein Korinthenkacker/Paragraphenreiter! = don’t act so petty/childish; don’t be so finicky/persnickety about the meal; there is too much nitpicking/bickering/quarreling going on right now in our family; he always nitpicks on me/finds fault with me; he relishes engaging in nitpicking
das ist alles Haarspalterei; er findet immer das Haar in der Suppe = don’t waste your breath/time splitting hairs; no need to/let’s not split hairs about this trivial issue/over legal technicalities
es ist alles Erbsenzählerei; sei kein Erbsenzähler/sei nicht so pingelig = don’t be so petty/persnickety; you’re being a stickler for irrelevant details/for precise rules; don’t be such a nitpicker
Stell dich nicht so an! = Don’t be so fussy/petty!
mein Vater ist ein Pingel/ist manchmal übergenau = my father is a nitpicker/a pettifogger; sometimes my father can be a very overfastidious/finicky person
ich habe Dir schon x-mal gesagt, dass ich nicht zur Party gehe = I’ve told you times ten/many times over that I’m not going to the party
Übergang zu neuem Thema/einen Gedankensprung machen = “I digress” (it is said before one begins a new sentence when changing the subject); suddenly he went off on a tangent and started talking about his private problems; let’s now fast-forward to our next meeting’s issues
bei kniffligen Themen ist der Uni-Professor sehr vorsichtig mit seiner Wortwahl = in his role as a university professor of psychology he has to walk/tread on eggshells about touchy themes
Kannst du Dich auf meinen jüngsten Roman konzentrieren? = Can I engage your senses on my latest novel?
die Aussage war ein Missverständnis = the statement was used out of context
eine Übersetzung kann hin und wieder zu Missverständnissen führen = a text in a foreign language sometimes gets lost in translation
seine Bemerkungen waren etwas daneben = his remarks were somehow infelicitous/counterproductive/inadequate/off the rails
