I would not trust that with a barge pole
Posted: April 21, 2017 | Author: davemalaphor | Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Dave and Phil, expressions, Golf with Friends, humor, language, malaphor, malaphors, words, would not touch him with a barge pole, would not trust him if I could throw him |Leave a commentThis malaphor was uttered in the You Tube video “Two Sandy Balls”. You can hear the mixed idiom at about 14:05 in the video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xIKPD0l7HYA
It is a nice mashup of “wouldn’t touch that with a barge pole” (do not want to become involved with something or someone in any way) and “would not trust him as far as I could throw him” (don’t trust someone at all). “Trust” and “touch” are similar sounds and are the source of the confusion here, I think. Interestingly, the idiom “would not touch someone with a barge pole” is an idiom heard in the U.K. or in Australia. In the U.S, that expression is “wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole”. Barge poles were used to push barges, and were ordinarily about ten feet long. A big thanks to Albie Winter for hearing this one and passing it along!
If you liked this malaphor you will LOVE the book, “He Smokes Like a Fish and other Malaphors”, available on Amazon (UK and Australia as well!).
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