nur Bahnhof verstehen

Earlier 20th century. Literally, “to understand only train station”.

According to some sources (e.g. Duden) from WWI military slang. For front soldiers, Bahnhof (“train station”) would have been synonymous with furlough or relocation to the hinterland, so the phrase would originally have meant “to understand only what one wants to hear”, “not to pay attention”. What may corroborate this theory is the variant immer Bahnhof verstehen (literally “to understand train station all the time”).

However, the apparent interpretation of “train station” as referring to a noisy, hectic place with unintelligible announcements etc. is also plausible. This is at any rate how most contemporary speakers would understand the phrase.

• IPA^(key): /nuːɐ̯ ˈbaːnhoːf fɐˈʃteːən/

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nur Bahnhof verstehen (irregular strong, third-person singular present versteht nur Bahnhof, past tense verstand nur Bahnhof, past participle nur Bahnhof verstanden, past subjunctive verstände nur Bahnhof or verstünde nur Bahnhof, auxiliary haben)

1. (idiomatic) to understand nothing at all

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