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by An Educated Optimist on July 8th, 2007
The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution concerns the rules of trial. It states, for example, that you cannot be tried twice for the same crime (the "double jeopardy" rule), and the self-incrimination rule. This last one is the one usually referenced when people "plead the Fifth" or "take the Fifth." This rule states that a person cannot be required to testify against himself or to make statements that might incriminate him. This is why a person may choose not to take the stand in his own trial, for example.
When a person uses this expression in a casual context, he is saying that he refuses to answer because his answer might get him in trouble. For example, I might ask my fiance how I look in a new outfit. If he takes the fifth, it's because he doesn't like it but doesn't want me mad at him. Ditto when he asks me how much I spent on a haircut. :-)
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