Green table

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The proverbial green table is part of the phrase "decide something at the green table". A decision at the “green table” is a bureaucratic decision with little reference to reality or practice. Under certain circumstances, the practicality of such a decision cannot be foreseen at first.


Especially in sports journalism, decisions are often made at the green table: Here, arbitrary decisions by sports associations are referred to, for example the determination of a result after a football game has been canceled.

Origin of the phrase

The Duden dictionary of origins says that “the negotiating tables used to be often covered with green leather or cloth ”. As an explanation, Duden online states that “the advisory tables of the authorities” were often green in the past.

Courts originally met outdoors, on the open Reichsstrasse (see Thing ). In the early modern period, when swearing-in or pronouncing verdicts in town halls, this procedure was maintained by opening the windows and setting up grass and flower arrangements. Both are documented for Bern . The negotiation at the green table is the negotiation on neutral ground. Green is a neutral color in the liturgy . In heraldry , green plays a largely subordinate role and is therefore suitable for peace negotiations.

Green tablecloths and table covers, upholstery and carpets have survived in parliaments, courtrooms, council rooms and boardrooms in the United States, Great Britain (and Commonwealth ), Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

See also

literature

  • Peter F. Kopp: Swiss Council antiquities. Movable town hall furnishings from the beginnings to the demise of the old Swiss Confederation , Zurich 1972.

Individual evidence

  1. a b Duden online: table , section meanings, examples and phrases , point 1. a.
  2. ^ Duden: The dictionary of origin, 3rd edition 2001, keyword table .
  3. Kopp 1972.