Looking for an idiom/expression...

[Mehrgan]

Hi all,
I hope someone will kindly help me find the right idiom or expression about the following situation. In all professions and working conditions there are those who prefer not to get involved in trivial matters which aren't directly related to the work. For example, in an office context one might not like to get involved with what colleagues say about each other, how some get a promotion while others can't, how boss treats some employees differently, etc. Whatever happens, this person wants to do their own job without getting involved. (In the case of a football context, the player tries to avoid the press, and anything not related to football which might stop them from reaching their goals.)

I wonder if there was any common expression or idiom we can use for such situation? Say, in a sentence like, 'I don't re
ally want to ............................! I'm just trying to do my best,...'

Many thanks!

[JohnParis]

'I don't re
ally want to ............................! I'm just trying to do my best,...'

[/I]Many thanks!

Hi Mehrgan,
I am not aware of any one single idiom or expression that would cover your situation. There are are so many ways to convey what you wish to say.
'I don't really want to comment on that, I'm just trying to do my best.'
'I don't really want to get involved with this, my job is to do my best.'
'It's really none of my business.'
'My job is to play the best game I can, and that's all I'm here to do.'

I'm curious. Is there one single expression in your language that answers your question?

[Raymott]

Hi all,
I hope someone will kindly help me find the right idiom or expression about the following situation. In all professions and working conditions there are those who prefer not to get involved in trivial matters which aren't directly related to the work. For example, in an office context one might not like to get involved with what colleagues say about each other, how some get a promotion while others can't, how boss treats some employees differently, etc. Whatever happens, this person wants to do their own job without getting involved. (In the case of a football context, the player tries to avoid the press, and anything not related to football which might stop them from reaching their goals.)

I wonder if there was any common expression or idiom we can use for such situation? Say, in a sentence like, 'I don't re
ally want to ............................! I'm just trying to do my best,...'

Many thanks!

For the first example, you can say, "I don't get involved in office politics. I just do my job".
But once you change it to a different environment, you need a different phrase. As the others say, there doesn't seem to be a cover-all idiom.

[Mehrgan]

Thanks for the question. This, at least, may give you a rough idea what is used in Persian. I'm probably not using the best English word for this, but the word 'margin' has just popped up in my mind. The idiom would be something like, '...I try not to get involved with the margin!', which is not case specific, and shows more of a person's policy in dealing with the trivial matters in the job or one's career.
I feel so sorry about using the word 'margin', but indeed that's the only word coming to my mind. I'd appreciate it if you could also help me with this.


Thanks again!

[Tdol]

How about distractions?

[BobSmith]

I don't like to get involved in office politics or gossip. I'd rather just keep to myself.

[shannico]

I don't like to get involved in office politics or gossip. I'd rather just keep to myself.

How about
It's no skin off my nose.
Hope this helps.

[5jj]

It's no skin off my nose.

That's a little different: It's no skin off my nose - Idioms - by the Free Dictionary, Thesaurus and Encyclopedia.

[BobK]

How about 'I don't want to get involved', or 'Don't involve me in your <noun>'? In track and field (or 'athletics', to use quaint Br E word ) athletes often talk about 'running your own race' - but I haven't heard this used metaphorically (though it would make sense if someone did it). If you run your own race you ignore the other competitors.

Another sporting metaphor - which is used even in 'ball-less' contexts - is 'keeping your eyes on the ball/prize/goal' - but this is not the same as avoiding distractions (although avoiding distractions is part of it). So you could say 'I don't like to get involved with office politics. If we're going to make this dead-line we've all got to keep our eyes on the ball.'

b

[Mehrgan]

I suppose this could be the right word for 'margin' in my example. And, in case there wasn't any word-to-word equivalent, it can well convey the meaning, to my understanding. Thanks for the word.