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The expression is "Hold the fort." It is shopkeeper slang for "take over for a minute or two" possibly dating from the European "discovery" of the world, when shops and forts were the same thing, and holding the fort would mean not allowing the trading post to fall victim to hostile outsiders or to internal lawlessness.
There is also the expression "hold down a job" meaning be employed regularly. There the image is sarcastic, as if a job were such a light thing you could hold it down; but it has become ironic, because our jobs are indeed drying up and blowing away.
Hold down the fort does not exist except as an American bastardisation of the English phrase "Hold the Fort". The expression to 'hold the fort' relates to the military strategy of 'holding' a fort so that the enemy could not penetrate the city/castle. The 'fort/shop' connection is a pretty idea but not based on any kind of fact as the shopkeeper slang is no more relevant than any other profession asking for someone to look after its interests in their absence.
Wiki User
∙ 12y ago
Wiki User
∙ 11y agoThe original phrase seems to have been 'hold the fort' from a military point of view. Meaning defend the structure against the enemy, take care of things whilst I am gone for a short time. General Sherman was supposed to have used the phrase during the Civil war. In 1864, he sent an order to General Corse to defend his position until relief arrived. However, General Sherman may have said 'hold out, relief is coming' but 'hold the fort' caught on as a more popular command
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