I’ve done a quick search, here and on google, and I can’t find out exactally how and when this phrase originated. I have a pretty good idea it was back when horses were the main way of transportation. I would like to know when the phrase started, and why we still use it , even though I’m sure it makes no sense to most of the population.
Thanks
~Qwisp~
My slang dictionary dates it to the 1840s (first-known use, 1844). I’d say it’s still used because it’s so vivid: someone holding back a pair of rearing horses.
Okay, this is my THIRD attempt to post.
Basically, it goes way way way back.
“Hold your horses” is the command that comes before “Charge” in the military dating back to the very beginning.
It’s in the “History of Tom Jones,” for instance, which was written at least 250 years ago.
If you go back to certain ancient history, of course, the phrase is “hold your elephants!”
Er, any cite as to exactly WHEN “the very beginning” was? date?
could you give the exact cite. Most people who research slang terms and phrases missed it. They agree with EVE, that it dates from only the 1840’s.