“Keep Someone at Arm’s Length” means to avoid becoming too friendly or emotionally close to someone. This guide focuses on current documented usage and does not assert unsupported origin chronology.
ReviewedEvidence1 sourceSectionPhrases & Idioms
Quick answer
It means to keep emotional or social distance from someone rather than letting the relationship become close.
Key details
Canonical Formkeep someone at arm’s length
Core Meaningto avoid becoming too friendly or emotionally close to someone
Further guidance
History Boundary
This guide establishes the documented modern meaning and does not claim an exact inventor, coinage date, or absolute first use.
Meaning
To avoid becoming too friendly or emotionally close to someone.
Usage Boundary
Use the idiom only where its documented figurative meaning fits the context.
Sources and evidence
Sources are shown with the role they play in this guide. Historical or style-sensitive claims are kept within the evidence boundary described above.
To “keep someone or something at bay” is to hold it off, repel it, or keep it from approaching closely or having its effect. The guide gives the current meaning without attaching an unsupported exact origin date.
“Keep Someone in the Loop” means to keep someone informed and included in relevant information or decisions. The guide stays with current documented meaning and does not add unsupported origin chronology.
To pull someone’s leg is to tease or trick them into believing something untrue as a joke. The reviewed histories disagree on how early secure printed evidence should be placed, while a famous supposed 1821 diary example is rejected as a later fake.
“Rain on someone’s parade” means to spoil another person’s plans or enjoyment. This guide covers the documented figurative meaning without claiming a precise inventor or first-use date.
To “steal someone’s thunder” is to pre-empt someone and take attention, praise, or advantage away from them. Phrase Finder connects the expression with playwright John Dennis and a theatrical thunder effect in the early eighteenth century, but the famous wording survives through later reports, so the engine separates the reported event from the later printed documentary chain.
