Today's words · 🥖 Food idioms
Beer, sausage and mustard: 10 tasty German food idioms
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When a German says ‘that's not my beer’, they aren't talking about beer at all.
You ask a colleague something at work and they reply ‘Das ist nicht mein Bier.’ Beer? In the middle of a meeting? It turns out they meant ‘that's not my department’.
Today's ten idioms all involve food. With them you'll get your German friends' jokes and maybe slip in a witty line of your own. Enjoy! 🥨
📋 The ten words at a glance
- Das ist nicht mein Bier — that's not my problem, not my business (colloquial)
- alles in Butter — everything's fine, all's well
- jemandem wurst sein — sb. couldn't care less, it's all the same to sb.
- um den heißen Brei herumreden — to beat around the bush
- seinen Senf dazugeben — to put one's two cents in
- Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen — to compare apples and oranges
- in den sauren Apfel beißen — to bite the bullet
- Tomaten auf den Augen haben — to be blind (to what's in front of one)
- eine harte Nuss zu knacken haben — to have a tough nut to crack
- weggehen wie warme Semmeln — to sell like hot cakes
🧠 Words, examples and memory tricks
Das ist nicht mein Bier
[dahs ist nikht mine BEER]that's not my problem, not my business (colloquial)📌 Das ist nicht mein Bier, frag den Chef.
→ That's not my department, ask the boss.
💡 If it isn't your beer, you don't touch it 🍺 Not my business!
⚠ Very casual. Avoid it with your boss or customers.
alles in Butter
[AL-es in BOO-ter]everything's fine, all's well📌 Keine Sorge, alles in Butter!
→ Don't worry, everything's fine!
💡 Even fragile glass is safe packed in butter 🧈 So everything's fine!
Bonus Wie läuft's? – Alles in Butter! = How's it going? – All good!
jemandem wurst sein
[YAY-man-dem VOORST zine]sb. couldn't care less, it's all the same to sb.📌 Ob wir ins Kino oder ins Theater gehen, ist mir wurst.
→ I don't care whether we go to the cinema or the theatre.
💡 A sausage has two identical ends, so it doesn't matter which you pick 🌭
Bonus In the south and Austria: Das ist mir wurscht!
⚠ The person is dative: Das ist mir wurst. Here wurst is written lower case.
um den heißen Brei herumreden
[oom dayn HY-sen BRY hair-OOM-ray-den]to beat around the bush📌 Red nicht um den heißen Brei herum!
→ Stop beating around the bush!
💡 A cat circling hot porridge (Brei): wants it, but it's too hot 🥣 Germans beat around the porridge, not the bush.
⚠ herumreden is separable: Red nicht um den heißen Brei herum!
seinen Senf dazugeben
[ZINE-en ZENF da-TSOO-gay-ben]to put one's two cents in📌 Zu jedem Thema muss mein Onkel seinen Senf dazugeben.
→ My uncle has to put his two cents in on every topic.
💡 Like putting mustard (Senf) on every dish — and a comment on every topic 🥨
⚠ The possessive changes: Ich gebe meinen Senf dazu. / Er gibt seinen Senf dazu.
Äpfel mit Birnen vergleichen
[EP-fel mit BEER-nen fair-GLY-khen]to compare apples and oranges📌 Stadt- und Landschulen direkt zu vergleichen hieße, Äpfel mit Birnen zu vergleichen.
→ Comparing urban and rural schools directly would be comparing apples and oranges.
💡 Germans compare apples with pears, not oranges 🍐
Bonus Das ist doch Äpfel mit Birnen! = You can't compare those!
in den sauren Apfel beißen
[in dayn ZOW-ren AP-fel BY-sen]to bite the bullet📌 Wir mussten in den sauren Apfel beißen und die teure Reparatur bezahlen.
→ We had to bite the bullet and pay for the expensive repair.
💡 Bite into the sour apple and grit your teeth 🍏 English bites a bullet instead.
Bonus Perfect: Ich habe in den sauren Apfel gebissen.
Tomaten auf den Augen haben
[to-MAH-ten owf dayn OW-gen HAH-ben]to be blind (to what's in front of one)📌 Hast du Tomaten auf den Augen? Das Schild ist doch riesig!
→ Are you blind? The sign is huge!
💡 With tomatoes on your eyes, of course you can't see anything 🍅
Bonus Hast du Tomaten auf den Augen? = Are you blind?
eine harte Nuss zu knacken haben
[INE-uh HAR-tuh NOOS tsoo KNAK-en HAH-ben]to have a tough nut to crack📌 Mit der Steuererklärung hatte ich eine harte Nuss zu knacken.
→ My tax return was a tough nut to crack.
💡 A hard nut to crack, just like in English 🌰
Bonus Short version: Das ist eine harte Nuss. = That's a tough one.
⚠ Say the k in knacken: K-NAK-en!
weggehen wie warme Semmeln
[VEK-gay-en vee VAR-muh ZEM-eln]to sell like hot cakes📌 Die Tickets für das Konzert gingen weg wie warme Semmeln.
→ Tickets for the concert sold like hot cakes.
💡 Warm, fresh rolls vanish fast 🥖 English sells hot cakes instead.
Bonus Semmel is the southern word; in the north it's Brötchen.
⚠ weggehen is separable: Die Karten gehen weg wie warme Semmeln.
🇩🇪 A spoonful of German culture
Even a simple bread roll has different names around Germany. It's often Brötchen in the north, Semmel in Bavaria and Austria, and Schrippe in Berlin. Order with the local word and you'll sound like you belong!
Sausage (Wurst) turns up in idioms a lot. When it's make-or-break time, Germans say ‘Jetzt geht es um die Wurst!’ (now it really counts). One story says sausages were once the prize at village contests.
Most of these idioms are casual, for chatting with friends or colleagues. They sound more natural in conversation than in a formal email. 🌭
✅ Quick quiz
Q. Your friend asks, ‘Pizza or sushi?’ You like both and really don't mind. What do you say?
- ① Ich habe Tomaten auf den Augen.
- ② Das ist mir wurst.
- ③ Das geht weg wie warme Semmeln.
Show the answer
② Das ist mir wurst.
Das ist mir wurst means I don't mind — either is fine.
Pick one of today's idioms and use it out loud about something that happened today. If your day went smoothly: Alles in Butter! 🧈
🔜 Tomorrow's topic: 💓 Feelings in idioms