On the fence?_其他_趣味英语-查字典英语网

On the fence?

Reader question:

Please explain “on the fence” in this sentence: This is a place to ask questions, share experiences and offer support to those who are on the fence about having kids.

My comments:

An online forum?

Anyway, this a place where people who are undecided on when they should have a child or whether they should have a child at all can ask questions and seek advice.

Those who are “on the fence” are still “sitting on the fence”, straddling the fence like riding a horse, one leg on each side, meaning, metaphorically speaking they’re not yet able to take sides – on one side of the fence, it’s “Yes, have children”; on the other side of the fence, people say: “No, don’t have kids”.

In the countryside, many farmers separate their houses and courtyard from a neighbor’s property with a fence, a wall-like structure using tree trunks and branches. Suppose this day two neighboring farmers, Farmer John and Farmer Doe get into a shouting match over some dispute or other. Their voices are so loud that villagers from far off are attracted to the scene. To have a better view of what’s going on, you can imagine some young ones may climb up and sit on the fence watching the two neighbors working out their differences.

Sooner or later, as you can imagine, the two quarrelling neighbors will ask the onlookers straddling the fence to judge which one of them is right and which one should offer an apology to the other.