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Usenet Posted 22 years ago
English in UK

Ten-foot pole

Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole.

I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?
  

Top answer

[nq:1]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole. " Is it a slang? [/nq] It's a cliche.

  • [nq:1]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole.
  • " Is it a slang?
  • [/nq] It's a cliche.
  • The standard phraseology is "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole," meaning that the speaker finds "it" (whatever "it" is) so offensive that he or she would stay at least ten feet away from it and even then would not want to make any sort of contact with it.
  • " -- Bob Lieblich Whose mother was a five-foot Pole
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267 Answers
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[nq:1]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole. I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
It's a cliche. The standard phraseology is "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole," meaning that the speaker finds "it" (whatever "it" is) so offensive that he o
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[nq:2]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near ... pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's a cliche. The standard phraseology is "I wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole," meaning that the speaker finds ... it. In most contexts you'll find it a lot easier just to say something like "I consider it very offensive."[/nq]
... or "scary", or otherwise
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Jeremy Chen | alt.usage.english,uk.culture.language.english in
[nq:1]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole. I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
Hi Jeremy,

I am not an English native speaker, anyway I came across this idiom a few ti
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[nq:1]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near one of the new programs in this country with a ten-foot pole. I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
Often given as "10-foot bargepole". (A long pole with a hook on the end used for pulling canal boats to the bank of the canal.)

HTH.
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[nq:1]I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
It is a mis-quote. The correct term is "a ten-foot barge pole."

100 years ago they used barges in England to convey good via the British canals. Barges were a common form of public transport. Slow, but cheaper than a coach, but both were horse-drawn. The barge workers used a
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In article (Email Removed), Enrico C (Email Removed) writes
[nq:1]Jeremy Chen alt.usage.english,uk.culture.language.english in [/nq]
[nq:2]Recently I came across this sentence: I wouldn't get near ... pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
[nq:1]Hi Jeremy, I am not an English native speaker, anyway I came across this idiom a few times. I think it's usually said as "I wou
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[nq:1]http://www.knls.org says it is an American idiom: "A fun American idiom is I WOULDN'T TOUCH THAT WITH A TEN-FOOT POLE ... want to get involved The pole refers to the long poles used to push barges down a canal or river[/nq]
In fact the British equivalent is simply "I wouldn't touch that with a barge-pole".

Cheers
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[nq:2]I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
[nq:1]It is a mis-quote. The correct term is "a ten-foot barge pole."[/nq]
Not really a "mis-quote": the US and UK versions are different.

In the US, it's "...with a ten-foot pole"; in the UK the wording is "...with a barge-pole".

I've never heard "...with a ten
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[nq:2]It is a mis-quote. The correct term is "a ten-foot barge pole."[/nq]
[nq:1]Not really a "mis-quote": the US and UK versions are different. In the US, it's "...with a ten-foot pole"; in the UK the wording is "...with a barge-pole". I've never heard "...with a ten-foot barge pole"; sounds redundant to my ear.[/nq]
Not only is it redundant but the US is giving short measure again -- by
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[nq:2]I cannot find the meaning of the phrase "a ten-foot pole." Is it a slang? What does it account for?[/nq]
[nq:1]It's a cliche. (...)[/nq]
Is this some new usage of "cliché"?

Matti

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