middle-of-the-road
1. Phr., often used attrib. or quasi-adj., pertaining to or designating a person who, or a course of action, etc., which, is moderate or unadventurous, tending to avoid extremes; orig. spec. in U.S. with reference to the views of the Populist party.
| [1777 P. Thicknesse Year's Journey I. vi. 43 It is necessary..to keep in the middle of the road, so as not to be too suddenly surprised. 1892 Rocky Mountain News (Denver, Colorado) 17 July 1 Side tracks are rough, and they're hard to walk, keep in the middle of the road.] 1894 Iowa State Register (Des Moines) 5 Sept. 8/3, I am a middle-of-the-road man, but I don't propose to lie down across it so no one can get over me. Nothing grows in the middle of the road. 1896 Congress. Rec. 10 Dec. 80/2 The only honest Populist is the ‘middle-of-the-road’ Populist. 1927 Amer. Speech II. 443/1 The ‘middle of the road’ is the sacred path followed by compromising politicians who desire to promote their own or their party's fortunes. 1950 Ann. Reg. 1949 331 The Japanese press said that..efforts to establish a ‘middle-of-the-road’ democracy had failed. 1951 [see functionalism 1]. 1959 Economist 10 Jan. 101/1 He has been ultra-conservative, demagogically radical, or firmly middle-of-the-road. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at the Office (1972) 151, There are no revolutionaries on this island, not left-wing, not right-wing, and most certainly not middle-of-the-road revolutionaries. 1973 ‘S. Harvester’ Corner of Playground ii. i. 80 [They] wanted him, the old middle-of-the-road liberal democrat, to be their first president. |
2. Of (usu. popular) music: avoiding extremes of volume, beat, etc., so as to appeal to the widest possible audience; deliberately unadventurous and inoffensive; mediocre. Abbrev. MOR s.v. M 6.
| [1958 L. A. G. Strong Treason in Egg ii. 35 A steady middle-of-the-road musician whom they felt they could trust to lead them through the morasses of contemporary music.] 1959 Times 23 Sept. 13/6 The Polish composer Spisak..has..been represented..by middle-of-the-road music of unpretentious amiability. 1975 Sat. Rev. Lit. (U.S.) 29 Nov. 45/3 Pop and so-called MOR (middle-of-the-road) [record] sales are down. 1982 Barr & York Official Sloane Ranger Handbk. 25/1 William Bartholomew of Juliana's Discotheque knows you like middle-of-the-road songs. 1983 Washington Post 3 Mar. d13/3 The new format..will be middle of the road ‘music, aimed at people 35 to 54 years of age’. |
Hence middle-of-the-roader.
| 1896 N.Y. Tribune 21 July 2/2 If the Bryan faction predominates, the Middle-of-the-Roaders will bolt and nominate another candidate. 1971 D. E. Westlake I gave at the Office (1972) 151 They are neither right-wing nor left-wing but middle-of-the-roaders. |