ten foot pole...

[greenie87]

'I wouldnt touch her/him weith a ten foot pole'

What the..... how in hells name has a ten foot pole?

Where does this saying come from?

Thanks Greenie87

[Quizmonster]

It's just a variant of 'I wouldn't touch whatever with a barge pole', which has been around for over a century. A barge pole is, of course, the long chunk of wood which was used to propel barges along in much the same way as a punt is driven nowadays. Other than university rivers, there aren't many such long, stout poles in use today as there once were, so you're right...nobody much has such a pole! All it means is 'I'd keep my distance from whatever, if I were you!'

[jno]

Roman Polanski was once described as 'the five-foot Pole you wouldn't touch someone with'.

[Clanad]

Only to supplement Q's offering: one source suggests the original expression is "Not to be handled with tongs." In 1639, John Clarke included that line in Paroemiologia Anglo-Latino when he was expressing something that shouldn't be touched. The use of a ten-foot pole came about as a figure of speech sometime in 1758. There's also a variation using a barge pole instead of a ten-foot pole as referenced by Q That one came about sometime around 1877...