Translation for German word "Kür" as in "Pflicht und Kür"

Question

I am trying to find a crisp translation of the German phrase "Pflicht und Kür. deepl.com yields "Duty and freestyle" as translation for "Pflicht und Kür" which irritated me.

In my (business) context "Pflicht" is understood as expected/required/obligatory actions/things, while "Kür" is understood as voluntary actions/things usually surpassing "Pflicht" with their
quality/greatness. So freestyle feels a bit short here as it doesn't reflect the part where people are "going above and beyond/over deliver". (Thank you for your helpful comment @Ben A.)

Also I tried but failed to find a meaningful synonym to "freestyle" in my context, which is not "skating" but delivering projects.

BoldBen · Answer

I think the difficulty you have with the given translation is caused more by the translation of 'pflicht' rather than the translation of 'kür'. The Collins Dictionary gives two translations for 'pflicht', the first is

duty

As you have seen but the second relates specifically to sport and is given as

compulsory section

Using the second translation 'Pflicht und Kür' becomes 'Compulsory section and freestyle' which could be written as 'compulsory and freestyle section' if the section is freestyle with compulsory elements or 'compulsory and freestyle sections' if it refers to two or more separate sections.

Spencer · Answer

I don't know if you consider this crisp enough, but using

doing the bare minimum

for "Pflicht" versus

going the extra mile

for "Kür" would convey exactly the meaning you intend. These are both well-known English idioms.

Translation for German word "Kür" as in "Pflicht und Kür"

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