A bargepole is a long, strong pole used on a barge — the long, flat boat that carries goods on a river or canal. You plant one end in the water or against the bank, or against another boat, and you push. It guides the barge, keeps it off the side, and helps it move. It is a work tool from canal life, not a sport pole. Though actually, most learners never see the tool. What they hear is the British saying “I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole”: I want nothing to do with that person, that job, that deal. The picture is that even a pole this long is not long enough; stay away. Americans say the same thing with “a ten-foot pole.” Informal, a bit colourful, still very much alive in that one sentence.

撐駁船的長竿、撐篙。日常幾乎只在 I wouldn’t touch it with a bargepole 裡碰到，意思是「碰都不想碰」。美式說 ten-foot pole。