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/Sounds like "foo" (as in "food") + "nahm" (as in "nacho") + "boo" (as in "boot") + "LEES" (as in "lead") + "moh" (as in "more")/

Meaning

In Spanish politics and media, the art of walking a tightrope between two opposing positions without committing to either one. A politician practicing funambulismo gives contradictory signals, plays both sides, and never gives a straight answer. From the Latin "funambulus," the tightrope walker.

Examples

That member of parliament has been doing pure tightrope-walking for weeks, never giving a yes or no.

Political balancing acts have limits: at some point you have to pick a side.

Word family
Regional synonyms

In Argentina, to finally understand something, usually too late. The metaphor comes from the old coin (veinte centavos) dropping into the slot of a public phone to activate the call. When the twenty drops for you, you have caught on, but the situation has probably already played out.