Hold Over

"He gets home from AM Kindergarten at 11:15 so I usually feed him a small snack to held him over until lunch"

"One of Carlos’ first acts upon settling in San Francisco was to replace his car with a bike. That clunker held him over until he got his very own Mission Bicycle and that, as they say, was the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Hubby had extra medication he keeps in his camping gear, and that held him over until the pharmacy opened and we got back out"

What is "hold over"?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RakeFlake

"He gets home from AM morning kindergarten at 11:15 so I usually feed him a small snack to hold him over until lunch."

"One of Carlos’ first acts upon settling in San Francisco was to replace his car with a bike. That clunker held him over until he got his very own Mission Bicycle and that, as they say, was the start of a beautiful friendship."

"Hubby has extra medication he keeps in his camping gear, and that held him over until the pharmacy opened and we got back out."

What is "hold over"?

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The meaning in each sentence is that the item in question was sufficient for someone's needs until they could get something else/better/different.

I have written the three sentences again with an explanation in bold of the "hold over" part:

In #1, the child is given a small amount of food to ensure that he is not hungry again before lunch.
In #2, the man needed transport. When he arrived he couldn't afford the bike he really wanted so he bought a "clunker" (a cheap, low-quality bike) which was good enough for him to use while he saved the money for the Mission Bicycle.
In #3, the husband had enough medication to last/take until he could reach a pharmacy and get some more. He kept a small amount of spare medication in his camping gear in case he started to run out.

I don't know about AmE, but in BrE I don't think we use this very often. I would have used "to tide him over/to keep him going" in all three.

Welcome to the forum, RakeFlake:hi:, and thank you for giving your thread a meaningful title.

You will also see put on used with exactly the same meaning.

'A snack will put me on until lunch.'

'An old banger will put him on whilst he saves up for a better car.'

'She has enough tablets to put her on until her new prescription comes.'

Rover

Thank you for your answer, emsr2d2 & Rover_KE!

So, the "tide sb over" sense of "hold sb over" doesn't exist in BE?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by RakeFlake

So, the "tide somebody over" sense of "hold somebody over" doesn't exist in BE?

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On the contrary. Ems said 'I would have used "to tide him over/to keep him going" in all three'.

Rover

Thank you for your reply, Rover_KE!

So, the "tide somebody over" sense of "hold somebody over" is nonstandard/slangy in BE, but might be standard in AE or AuE or CE?

Again – on the contrary.

'Tide somebody over' is standard and idiomatic in BE.

Users of other varieties of English will comment when they wake up later.

Rover