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When someone turns 10, 20, 30, 40, 50... it is common in Germany to say that they are celebrating their "runder Geburtstag" which is usually celebrated in a larger way, inviting a larger circle of people, etc.

When I translate this into English, I usually say, "she is celebrating her rounded birthday" but I don't think people really understand that out of a German context.

Is there a common expression for this in English?

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This is a very interesting question, but IMHO it's more about English than German Language and Usage. Maybe we get some more esp. colloquial variants from there, in addition to Takkat's nice answer? – tohuwawohu Oct 30 '11 at 9:21
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Fully agree with @tohuwawohu here. As people at ELU may not be able/willing to translate from German there still may be some additional or better ideas there. – Takkat♦ Oct 30 '11 at 10:40
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@The one who downvoted: You're supposed to leave a comment if there's any reason for that! – user508 Oct 30 '11 at 13:22
@tohuwawohu: An English equivalent for the German phrase is being asked here, How they could translate German to English on EL&U? I guess it's an on-topic question as Takkat has answered completely right. – user508 Oct 30 '11 at 13:26
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@userunknown: When one side is German it's reasonably O.K. Read faq before downvoting the question you don't like. Translation questions are completely on-topic. – user508 Oct 30 '11 at 20:22
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2 Answers

up vote 6 down vote accepted

Best English match to "Runder Geburtstag" may be

Milestone birthday

Colloquial (where "runder Geburtstag" may also be used) we may say

The big four-O (or any other number)

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I've only ever heard someone say "big <Number>-oh". I can't say I've ever heard someone say "milestone birthday", but I think it would be understood just as well. – Glenn Nelson Jun 23 '12 at 22:10
up vote 1 down vote

One (slang) of describing such a birthday is a birthday with a new "handle" (3-, 4,-, etc.)

This expression (and others connected with this question) is not all that common, probably because the basic idea is not as prevalent in America as in Germany.

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