🗓️ Idiom: Put Someone on Hold (v)
💬 Meaning
- To pause a phone conversation, often by using a button or switch
- To delay someone’s request or issue while they wait
🧠 Example Sentences
- The customer was frustrated after being put on hold for 20 minutes.
- When I called to complain, they put me on hold without explaining why.
- Many companies put you on hold before transferring you to the right department.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from telephone systems. To “put someone on hold” means to temporarily stop the call while the person waits, often with music playing. Over time, it also became a way to describe delays in customer service.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
The agent asked me to wait and then ____________________.
Answer
put me on hold
2. Choose the correct meaning of “put someone on hold”:
A) To fire someone from their job
B) To make someone wait on the phone
C) To call someone back later
Answer
B) To make someone wait on the phone
3. Change the sentence using “put someone on hold”:
“The receptionist told me to wait while she checked the system.”
Answer
The receptionist put me on hold while she checked the system.
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Sales and Customer Service Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
