I would not trust that with a barge pole

This 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!).