Glossary entry

German term or phrase:

Kein Wort zu viel

English translation:

Save your breath

Added to glossary by Hilary Davies Shelby
May 15, 2007 19:49
17 yrs ago
German term

Kein Wort zu viel

German to English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Hello all!

I'm looking for some help with this phrase, as I haven't come across it so far. For reasons of confidentiality, i'm afraid I can't really provide much more context, but basically it's fiction, in which one person asks if they can speak to the other for a moment, and the other says "Kein Wort zu viel". Is this a quote from somewhere, or is it an idiom with a standard English equivalent?

Thanks a lot for any assistance!

Discussion

Bernhard Sulzer May 18, 2007:
Hi. Thanks for your last input, Hilary and sorry about my late answer (see below). Although your phrase of choice is not exactly the same as the German phrase (IMO), it will work according to your context.
Hilary Davies Shelby (asker) May 17, 2007:
I think "Save your breath" is absolutely perfect. The client has since given me a further explanation - Person B feels that he knows what Person A is going to say, so is not interested in listening. Thank you all so much for your many interpretations and helpful comments!

Paul Cohen May 17, 2007:
In any case, the client's suggestion of "Sie brauchen gar nichts zu sagen" implies that something happened or was said previously. "Kein Wort zu viel" appears to refer to that incident or topic. As Johanna said, it's a "comment" about something.
Paul Cohen May 17, 2007:
Hi, Hilary. It occurred to me that the topic of conversation may be rather sensitive and person 'B' is reluctant to talk about it because he doesn't want others to overhear it. "Kein Wort zu viel" (because "you-know-who" may be listening). Does that fit?
Hilary Davies Shelby (asker) May 16, 2007:
From the client - "So in Richtung "Sie brauchen gar nicht zu sagen"". Hmm...
Hilary Davies Shelby (asker) May 16, 2007:
I'm about to send some Rueckfragen to the client, so will definitely include this!
Hilary Davies Shelby (asker) May 16, 2007:
Hello again! Thank you all for being so helpful!!! Good questions. Person B (the one who says "Kein Wort zu viel" actually interrupts Person A after that - definitely giving the impression he is not interested in listening!
Lori Dendy-Molz May 16, 2007:
I agree with the natives that it usually means someone is a person of few words, but that didn't seem to jibe with your context. Or does it?
Francis Lee (X) May 16, 2007:
I suppose I also would've assumed it means summat like "cut to the chase", but now see that there are no Agrees for answers in that direction from German native-speakers. Even Bernhard has displayed uncharacteristic reticence ... ;-) What's your take?
Chinmayi Sripada May 16, 2007:
Also, if this is in case of person B tendering an apology to Person A (kein Wort zu viel), then this could be completely different as well
Bernhard Sulzer May 15, 2007:
Hi Hilary. Any indication on how long or friendly/unfriendly the conversation is that follows? Thank you.
Hilary Davies Shelby (asker) May 15, 2007:
Hi again! Thanks very much for the suggestions so far. I just wanted to point out that that's really all the context I have, too - Person A says "Can I speak to you for a second?" and Person B says "Kein Wort zu viel". And then they have a conversation. That's it...

Proposed translations

+2
19 hrs
Selected

Save your words

...in light of the client's input

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Note added at 19 hrs (2007-05-16 15:38:36 GMT)
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or "save your breath" if it fits the tone
Peer comment(s):

agree Francis Lee (X) : in light of the client's input: the above options or "Yes, I hear you (already)."
58 mins
Thanks, Francis
agree Paul Cohen : Yes, some good suggestions, Lori - though perhaps a bit on the hostile side. "Save your breath!" It's hard to say without more context.
1 day 3 mins
Thanks, Paul. Yes, context is crucial here. Really hard to say what fits without more input from Hilary.
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "I think "Save your breath" is absolutely perfect. The client has since given me a further explanation - Person B feels that he knows what Person A is going to say, so is not interested in listening. Thank you all so much for your many interpretations and helpful comments!"
+9
5 mins

sure, but be brief

I don't think it is a quote. It is simply telling the other person that, yes, I will listen but not for very long.
Peer comment(s):

agree Ingeborg Gowans (X) : yes, or : keep it short!
3 mins
danke, Ingeborg
agree Paul Cohen : make it brief
6 mins
thanks, Paul
agree Jim Tucker (X) : or "make it quick" in spoken E.
8 mins
thanks, Jim
agree Lori Dendy-Molz : with all of the above
11 mins
thank you, Lori
agree Julia Lipeles : with Jim
32 mins
thanks, Julia
agree Mihaela Boteva : With Paul.
36 mins
thanks a lot
agree Craig Meulen : also with all of the above
1 hr
thank you, Craig
agree Textklick : With Paul
2 hrs
thanks a lot
agree Chinmayi Sripada
8 hrs
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6 mins

don't overdo it

just for starters, very tough with no more context at all
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+2
51 mins

comment - n.f.g.

I don't know of any source where this might be quoted from.
Usually it is rather sort of a comment when you marvel (or criticise) someone for being extremely precise and brief. In your context, the meaning is probably that implied by previous suggestions for translation.
Peer comment(s):

agree Lancashireman : Yes, in view of the lack of context it would rash to rule out other possibilities, e.g. “Anything you say has to be worth listening to” or “I’m all ears”.
1 hr
agree Johanna Timm, PhD : Agree completely. The regular German equivalent to" keep it brief, please" would be " fassen Sie bitte sich kurz". "kein Wort zuviel" is used when someone HAS already said something & managed to keep it brief. It's a *comment*, rather than a plea/request
5 hrs
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9 hrs

keep it short

-

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Note added at 13 hrs (2007-05-16 09:00:01 GMT)
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I just noticed that Ingeborg suggested this.
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29 mins

Get to the point

I don't know any more about the context than what is given, but if the character is pressed for time, or has a short temper, this would be a good option. Basically character B tells character A not to beat around the bush, or leave all formalities aside.

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Note added at 1 day13 mins (2007-05-16 20:03:01 GMT)
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According to the latest note: Could this possibly mean: Don't say anything (I already know what you are going to say)?
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+1
1 day 19 hrs

You don't have to say a word

Now that we've had some feedback from the client and seen what our German colleagues have to say (Bernhard has remained oddly silent – and Johanna has pointed out that "keep it brief" would normally be "fassen Sie sich kurz" and not "kein Wort zu viel"), it appears that the phrase is indeed a comment concerning something that happened earlier.

Perhaps the topic is sensitive and person 'B' does not want others to overhear it. Who knows? We don't have much context.

What we do know is that there are "issues" between the two speakers and that the topic in question has already been dealt with to some extent or, at the very least, it should not be dealt with again at that particular time and place! There is also obvious impatience on the part of person 'B'. "Keep it brief" would express that lack of patience – but, unfortunately, that wouldn't imply that something happened earlier – and, if you just wrote "make it brief" something would definitely be lost in translation. So I would suggest the following:

"You don't have to say a word." (why not stick to the suggestion given by the client?)

"We've been over this before"

"Let's not go into this (again) (now)."

"I thought we agreed not to talk about this."

"Let's not go into details about it."

"There's no point in going over this (again) (right now/right here)."

"There's a time and a place for everything."

OR… if it's an obviously sensitive topic that others should not overhear – you could go out on a limb and use one of the following – but you might want to check it with the client again, if it's not clear from the context. Could it be that it's a hush-hush situation: "Kein Wort zu viel – der Feind hört mit" ??

"I thought we agreed to keep this under wraps"

"Mum's the word, remember?"

"Don't let the cat out of the bag."

Note from asker:
Hello again! Thanks very much for all your helpful suggestions. Although I am unable to provide details of the conversation, I can assure you that there is absolutely no suggestion of keeping something under wraps or secret in this context. It's definitely an "I don't want to hear it" kind of comment in this case.
Peer comment(s):

agree Bernhard Sulzer : plenty of these could apply, they're all going in the direction of "let's rather not talk about it"
10 hrs
Thanks, Bernhard. This "Kein Wort zu viel" question has been puzzling me for a while.
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+1
2 days 5 hrs

hush hush / don't say too much

sorry about the late answer but I wasn't sure until the last info posted by Hilary:

in light of all the info, "don't say too much" or "hush hush" would be what I would equate with "Kein Wort zuviel" rather than "save your breath" because IMO it's not exactly the same.

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2007-05-18 01:19:01 GMT) Post-grading
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this in light of the person B not wanting to speak to person A.

If they are friends, than "keep it under wraps" would be another option in my opinion, and that would be the same as Paul's "you don't have to say a word"

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2007-05-18 01:29:53 GMT) Post-grading
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or: let's rather not talk about it (although that's already pretty free).

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2007-05-18 01:31:24 GMT) Post-grading
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or. more direct, as friends: "let's not say too much" - meaning: let's not say anything about it right now.

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Note added at 2 days5 hrs (2007-05-18 01:33:58 GMT) Post-grading
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the "hush hush" was also suggested by Paul, but since this is post-grading, I don't think you will mind, Paul.
Note from asker:
Hello again! Thanks very much for all your helpful suggestions. Although I am unable to provide details of the conversation, I can assure you that there is absolutely no suggestion of keeping something under wraps or secret in this context. It's definitely an "I don't want to hear it" kind of comment in this case.
Peer comment(s):

agree Paul Cohen : I heartily agree, Bernhard! There's a good possibility that this exchange is a case of "hush hush," as you/I put it. Shhh... don't say a word, keep it under wraps, this is neither the time nor the place... etc.
30 mins
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