How do you say “Sit on the fence” in German?

The English idiom 'sit on the fence' evokes the image of someone perched high between two pastures, deliberately delaying commitment until the outcome is clear. German does not use the fence metaphor at all. The closest traditional idiom is 'zwischen den Stühlen sitzen', which stems from the proverb about trying to sit on two chairs at once and falling to the ground.

However, the emotional nuance differs subtly: an English fence-sitter is often opportunistic or cautious by choice, whereas sitting 'zwischen den Stühlen' in German frequently describes the awkward, uncomfortable state of being caught in the crossfire of two opposing factions. Because of this shift in tone, native German speakers often bypass the metaphor entirely in modern speech and instead say 'sich nicht festlegen wollen' or 'keine Partei ergreifen'.