Straddling/ sitting "on the fence"

Posted by SR January 12, 2005In reply to Sitting on the fence posted by David FG on January 12, 2005

Please could anyone let me know what the meaning is behind the saying "sitting on the fence".

Neither in one camp nor the other. Taking the middle position.

DFG

This is from an archived response by ESC.

ON THE FENCE - "undecided, unwilling to take a position, straddling.The term blossomed in 1828 and was probably in use before that.Carl Schurz, insisting on political independence, described his position (according to James Blaine) 'as that of a man sitting on a fence, with clean boots, watching carefully which way he may leap to keep out of the mud.'." From Safire's New Political Dictionary by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993).
SR

Replies

Straddling/ sitting "on the fence" Bob 12/January/05
- Buridan's ass Fred 12/January/05
  - Mugwumps, continued. Smokey Stover 12/January/05
    - Buridan's a** revisited Bob 13/January/05
      - Buridan's a** / Hobson's Horse SR 13/January/05
        
        Buridan's a** / Hobson's Horse Bob 14/January/05