Speak carefully and carry a ten foot stick ... "
Barack Obama
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not touch something with a ten foot pole/ stick
English
Etymology
This expression may have been derived by the 10-foot poles that electricians and other utility workers use to de-energize transformers and other high voltage utility equipment before performing maintenance.
This expression may have been derived by the 10-foot poles that river boatmen used to pole their boats with, along in shallow water, or from the barge poles that bargemen used to fend off wharfs and other boats.
Many believe this expression originates from a burial practice in New Orleans. The Spanish developed burial system of present day proceeds by first placing the casket of the patron in an above ground tomb. Exactly 1 year and 1 day after burial, the tomb is opened and the casket removed. The body is next wrapped in a sheet and shoved to the back of the tomb with a ten foot pole where it falls off the shelf to the bottom. The weather of the area caused the remains to decompose quickly and tombs are subsequently reused for many burial. The expression, "I wouldn't touch it with a ten foot pole," is thought to have originated from this burial process.
Verb
not touch (something) with a ten foot pole
1.(idiomatic) To avoid something at all costs; to refuse to associate with something; signifies a strong aversion.
2.(idiomatic) To be unable (perhaps figuratively) to approach something or someone.
Usage notes
This expression is nearly always used in the negative.
Translations[edit]
to avoid at all costs
See also
not be caught dead
over my dead body
not touch something with a barge pole
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Big stick ideology, big stick diplomacy, or big stick policy refers to U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt’s foreign policy: "speak softly, and carry a big stick." Roosevelt described his style of foreign policy as "the exercise of intelligent forethought and of decisive action sufficiently far in advance of any likely crisis."[1]
The idea of negotiating peacefully, simultaneously threatening with the "big stick", or the military, ties in heavily with the idea of Realpolitik, which implies a pursuit of political power that resembles Machiavellian ideals.[2] It is comparable to gunboat diplomacy, as used in international politics by imperial powers.