Middle of The Road
Meaning
Something unadventurous or inoffensive; opting to go neither one way nor the other.
Origin
This phrase conjures up similar images to that of ‘sitting on the fence’, i.e. portraying something that is not sure enough of itself to go one way or the other. It seems a rather odd choice of words to describe something that is bland and safe – surely the middle of the road is the last place to expect safety.
The figurative use of the phrase began in America towards the end of the 19th century. It was used to describe the policies of political parties who attempted to avoid alienating any particular set of voters by saying very little of substance which might annoy them (nothing changes).
The term was especially aimed at The Populist Party (or People’s) Party. There are early references in print to ‘middle of the road’ which aren’t specifically political in nature but they are considerably outnumbered by those which are.
