Hold your horses
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"Hold your horses", sometimes said as "Hold the horses", is a common idiom to mean "hold on" or wait, which is believed to have originated in the United States of America in the 19th century and is historically related to horse riding, or driving a horsedrawn vehicle.
[edit] Use
The word is typically used when someone is rushing in to something. It is often combined with linked idioms such as jump the gun, cool your jets, or look before you leap. However it also has a more literal meaning and in certain circumstances is the preferred idiom to use. "Hold your horses" literally means to keep your horse (or horses) still, which would be used when horse riding, or driving a horsedrawn vehicle. Thus it is very easy for someone without previously hearing the expression to understand its meaning. Someone is to wait for a moment. It is usually followed up with an explanation to demonstrate why they should wait. For example, "Hold your horses, you haven't thought about this yet".
[edit] By country
[edit] Australia
In Australia, the term has established significant cultural meaning, and is used by true blue Australians, who typically have a broad Australian accent and couple it with words such as mate and sheila. For example, it may be "Hold your horses mate, strewth you haven't even got the sheila to dance with you yet and you're already asking her to marry you? That's just asking for trouble". It is used as a way to express common sense.
[edit] United States
The term is believed to originate in the United States in the 19th century. Similar idioms such as "keep your panties on" and "don't get your cart in front of your horse", are often used.
