Wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole is an expression indicating extreme dislike and distaste for an object, person or situation. The expression can be used in a similar way to wouldn’t touch her with a 10 foot pole, but is not solely applicable to females; it is even more disparaging when used about a female as it treats her as something less than human. Many bargepoles were 12 or 13 feet long, but one specialised type called a setting boom could be as long as 28 feet! So as you can imagine, wouldn’t touch it with a barge pole means something which you would much rather keep well away from.
by AKACroatalin August 15, 2016