Going Like a Cat Around Hot Porridge

In English, if somebody’s being vague or indirect, we might say they’re beating around the bush.

But in German, they have a great expression for this that translates as they’re talking around the hot porridge.

So this means that you’re just avoiding the subject of the hot porridge?

Or you’ve got hot porridge, so you might as well talk about something else because you can’t eat the porridge.

Well, I think that there’s another expression in German that has to do with cats circling a bowl of porridge.

So you’re just kind of waiting for it to cool down before you…

And then the way that cats put out that little paw to test a thing, right?

They put it out like they’re just tentatively testing the porridge to see if it’s ready for them to cause trouble.

Right, with utter precision.

Well, we will try to give you a precise answer.

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