🖐️ At Arm’s Length: Mastering the Art of Detached Engagement 📏
To avoid familiarity, to keep someone at a distance. This expression, with its inevitable image of extending one’s arm to push someone away, has long been used figuratively to signify distancing oneself from a problem, group, political stance, and so forth. In the sixteenth century, it was put as at arm’s end, as Sir Philip Sidney had it in Arcadia (1580), but by the mid-seventeenth century, it began to appear as at arm’s length.
Similar Terms, Proverbs, and Expressions:
- Keep at bay: To hinder or prevent something or someone from coming too close.
- Hold off: To keep something at a distance, physically or metaphorically.
- Stand aloof: Remaining uninvolved or distant from a subject or group.
- Stay out of the fray: To not get involved in arguments or conflicts.
Humorous Quotes:
- “I like to keep reality at arm’s length. It’s too much for me.” - Bob Dylan
- “I’d keep social media at arm’s length, but apparently, arms aren’t long enough!” - Anonymous
Suggest Literature, Books, Songs, Poetry, and Movies:
- Literature: Brave New World by Aldous Huxley—Society keeps individuality at arm’s length to maintain order.
- Books: Emotional Distance 101: The Art of Not Getting Too Close by Fictitious Exampley
- Songs: “Distant” by Alex Dream—A ballad about emotional space.
- Poetry: “Distance” by Ellis Elucidator.
- Movies: Lost in Translation (2003)—Two characters keep their lives at arm’s length while forming a unique bond.
### Which of these is a real idiom?
- [x] Keeping at arm’s length
- [ ] Limbo with flamingos
- [ ] Hugging with handshakes
- [ ] Cartwheels in the fog
> **Explanation:** "Keeping at arm’s length" is a genuine idiom signifying the act of maintaining a distance, metaphorically or physically, from someone or something.
### Which phrase means to remain uninvolved?
- [ ] Going with the maize
- [x] Standing aloof
- [ ] Jumping jupiters
- [ ] Cozy with cacti
> **Explanation:** "Standing aloof" means to stay uninvolved, often to maintain distance or objectivity.
### True or False: 'Hold off' is an expression meant to signify delaying or not engaging
- [x] True
- [ ] False
> **Explanation:** Absolutely true! "Hold off" means to delay or keep something at a distance.
### Which of these terms means to prevent something from coming too close?
- [x] Keep at bay
- [ ] Pasture prancing
- [ ] Inexact extract
- [ ] Embrace angularity
> **Explanation:** "Keep at bay" means to prevent a person, idea, or situation from coming too close or becoming too involved.
### True or False: 'Being cozy' means keeping something at a distance?
- [ ] True
- [x] False
> **Explanation:** False! Being cozy implies closeness and comfort, quite the opposite of keeping maintained distance.
### In which of these idioms is the concept of 'distance' implicit?
- [ ] Elongate friendliness
- [x] Keeping at bay
- [ ] Approximating warmth
- [ ] Gravitating insiders
> **Explanation:** "Keeping at bay" explicitly involves maintaining a distance to prevent closeness.
“Life is a delicate balance of engaging connections and safeguarding distances. Navigate it with wisdom and humor, keeping joyful warmth close and draining distractions at arm’s length.”
-Ellis Elucidator
