/das ɪst nɪçt maɪ̯n ˈbiːɐ̯/ lit. ‘that’s not my beer’
German idiom, colloquial. This isn’t my problem, so I’m not getting involved.
Draft Not yet checked by a native German speaker.
How do people use Das ist nicht mein Bier
?
Colloquial and a bit blunt, used to push something away: a task, a quarrel, someone else’s mess. It also works without the “nicht”: “das ist dein Bier” means that’s your problem. German Wiktionary notes a second use, refusing to do something: “Ich soll hier aufräumen? Das ist nicht mein Bier!”
Also said das ist dein Bier, das ist mein Bier
Das ist nicht mein Bier
in real sentences
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Das ist nicht mein Bier!
It’s none of my business!
Tatoeba, sentence by Sudajaengi, translation by CK, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Das ist nicht dein Bier.
That’s none of your business.
Tatoeba, sentence by felix63, translation by Swift, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Das ist nicht mein Bier
come from?
Probably not about beer at all. German Wiktionary, citing Gutknecht and the Duden idiom dictionary, says the original word may have been “Birne” (pear), which many dialects used to mean “thing” or “business”. A dialect form like Cologne’s “Beär” could then have been heard as “Bier” by folk etymology. It’s a theory, and the sources give no date.
Mistakes learners make with Das ist nicht mein Bier
Getting the gender wrong. Bier is neuter, so it’s “mein Bier” and “dein Bier”, never “meine Bier”.
Other German idioms like Das ist nicht mein Bier
Spot a mistake in Das ist nicht mein Bier
?
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