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I never heard Raketenwissenschaft in this context in Germany. Is this a case of anglicism, or are there better suited German synonyms for this expression?

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1  
IMHO Raketenwissenschaft isn't used at all in German. de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luft-_und_Raumfahrttechnik – starblue Aug 6 '11 at 16:55
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just heard that a current variation is "It's not rocket surgery" from ricon cf. english.stackexchange.com/questions/37026/… – bernd_k Aug 7 '11 at 11:37
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What do rocket scientists say when something isn't hard? ;) – OregonGhost Aug 7 '11 at 13:24

4 Answers

up vote 12 down vote accepted

I'd probably say

Das ist doch keine Wissenschaft.

or

Das ist doch kein Hexenwerk.

LEO's forums contain a few more suggestions (e.g. here).

I wouldn't use Raketenwissenschaft or rocket science in German except when talking informally to peers of whom I know that they know English well enough.

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Hexenwerk is what I'd use as well. – OregonGhost Aug 7 '11 at 13:25
Definitely 'Hexenwerk'. The 'Wissenschaft' one doesn't feel strong enough to be a real synonym for me. – hheimbuerger Aug 12 '11 at 9:09
up vote 2 down vote

In context of scientific problems, I would say:

Das ist kein offenes Forschungsproblem.

In other contexts I would say:

Das ist machbar.

Or even

Das ist kinderleicht.

BTW: I asked for the usage of "That's no rocket science" on EL&U

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Good idea! We should focus a bit more on cross-side/language questions to attract some traffic or germans unaware of GL&U from there. – Hauser Aug 7 '11 at 11:38
"Das ist kein offenes Forschungsproblem" will probably result in a confused stare, followed by laughter after a second or two if they're smart – herzmeister der welten Aug 12 '11 at 21:08
up vote 3 down vote

I commonly translate that with:

Das ist keine Kernphysik.

or

Dafür braucht man nicht Quantenmechanik studiert zu haben.

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Agree. You also hear "Er ist nicht gerade ein Kernphysiker", meaning that somone isn't too smart. Admittedly, that's kind of mean. – Deve Aug 7 '11 at 13:13
up vote 10 down vote

I would go with

Das ist nicht so kompliziert.

or

Man braucht dafür nicht studiert zu haben.

or

Das ist keine Hexerei.

I've never heard a literal translation of the English idiom.

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