Abstandnehmen

Abstandnehmen, usually written as Abstand nehmen, is a German expression denoting the act of distancing oneself from a person, idea, or situation. It can indicate emotional detachment, withdrawal from involvement, or formal disassociation. The term is built from Abstand (distance) and nehmen (to take).

Construction and usage: The standard construction is nehmen Abstand von etwas, meaning to take distance from something. The subject performs the action and the thing from which distance is taken is introduced with von: Er nimmt Abstand von dem Vorschlag. The phrase is versatile and can appear in personal, political, or organizational contexts.

Nuances and alternatives: Abstandnehmen often conveys a conscious boundary-setting or a deliberate disengagement. For more formal or public distancing, German often uses distanzieren or Distanzierung, which emphasize dissociation or repudiation in a public or official sense. Abstand nehmen remains common in everyday language and in journalism or commentary.

Examples: Der Politiker nahm Abstand von der umstrittenen Initiative. Die Firma nahm Abstand von den Gerüchten. Sie nahm Abstand von der Beziehung.

See also: Distanzierung, Distanz, Abgrenzung.