Despite the fact that every word of it is English, business English often feels like a foreign language.
This is especially true of complicated technical terms. It’s hard to understand the meaning of competitive parity in strategic management, for instance.
But even basic business English vocabulary can leave people fumbling.
What is the meaning of the expression “put on hold”
The expression “put on hold” comes from placing someone on hold in a telephone conversation. In business English, it means to pause a project for a while. The duration something is “on hold” varies from a short period to indefinitely. Similarly, you can use “keep on hold” to keep something paused.
The origin of “put on hold”
If you’ve ever called a busy office, you might have come across the origin for “put on hold.”
In telephone services, the word “hold” refers to the practice of pausing a call for a while.
Because most companies have multiple phone lines tied to their telephones, this allows them to help other customers who were already on the phone.
It can also be used to give the receptionist time to assist someone who is physically in the office with them.
When you’re put on hold on a telephone call, you aren’t disconnected.
Instead, you can’t speak to the person on the other end of the line until they retrieve the call.
Sometimes, telephone holds come with distinctive music. In fact, researchers have even studied this phenomenon to see if it increases the amount of time people are willing to wait on hold.
In the business world, then, the expression “put on hold” refers to the practice of putting an idea, project, or other event on pause for a while.
It’s just like being placed on hold on a phone call. On the plus side, at least there isn’t hold music.
How to use “put on hold” in a sentence
“Put on hold” is a simple verb phrase, made up of the transitive verb “put” and the argument “on hold.”
The main thing you will have to do in most cases is insert the direct object after the word “put.” For example, you might hear someone say, “Let’s put the project on hold.”
Alternatively, you can use the passive voice while describing the thing that is, was, or will be put on hold.
Our transitive verbs article has a detailed description of the passive voice if you need a refresher.
For our purposes here, it just means that the object of “put” goes at the start of the clause or sentence where “put on hold” appears.
If you decide to put something on hold indefinitely, that means it has effectively been cancelled.
Example Sentences
This example uses the passive voice to describe Jim’s project being put on hold.
This sentence describes the same thing using the active voice.
Note that, in addition to moving “the project” after “put,” the active voice also requires us to say who or what did the action.
If you’re trying to avoid giving the impression that you’re blaming someone for something being put on hold, use the passive voice instead.
The difference between “put on hold” and “keep on hold”
The phrase “keep on hold.” is similar to “put on hold.”
As you might guess from the verb, the difference is that “put on hold” refers to pausing something in the first place, while “keep on hold” refers to keeping it paused.
If a project is put on hold for a month, for example, management might discuss whether or not it should be kept on hold at the end of that time.
Since business circumstances are always changing, it’s common for the period something is kept on hold to change.
If something is kept on hold indefinitely, it isn’t going to start again.
Example Sentences
Jim can’t catch a break. In this example sentence, his project is not only kept on hold but placed there forever.
Hey fellow Linguaholics! It’s me, Marcel. I am the proud owner of linguaholic.com. Languages have always been my passion and I have studied Linguistics, Computational Linguistics and Sinology at the University of Zurich. It is my utmost pleasure to share with all of you guys what I know about languages and linguistics in general.