on hold

/ˌɒn hˈəʊld/

/ˌɑːn hˈoʊld/

[phrase]

on hold

[PHRASE]

waiting on the phone until the receiver speaks

in a suspended state to be considered and dealt with in the future

What is the origin of the idiom "on hold" and when to use it?

The origin of the idiom "on hold" can be traced back to the telecommunications industry. In the early days of telephone systems, operators would physically connect calls by plugging cables into switchboards. When a call needed to be temporarily suspended or transferred to another line, the operator would place it "on hold" by placing the caller's line on a specific hold position on the switchboard. Overtime, as technology advanced and automated phone systems were introduced, the concept of putting a call "on hold" became ingrained in the common language, extending beyond the telephone industry to describe any situation where a planned action or process is temporarily paused or deferred. It is mostly used in project management to describe the temporary suspension of a task or project due to resource constraints, pending approvals, or changing priorities.

Examples

1. It was just, it was physically and mentally exhausting, to essentially put your personal life on hold for eight years.

2. You know, "My dating life is on hold until further notice."

3. But its $54 billion dollar budget deficit means that spending is on hold.

4. When we see uncertainty go up, we see that economic actors, including investors, but not only investors, also consumers, workers, they stop making decisions and it is precisely putting decisions on hold, which has potentially such devastating consequences.