hold it down

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Dear fellas, please, will you explain me it?
A foreman of a jury is saying in this video, 'Can we hold it down a minute?'

What does he mean by the expression "hold it down": "hold your noise!", "be somewhat calmer" or something else?
Cheers, guys!

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Type: Question • Score: 0 • Views: 1,393 • Replies: 17

[+4] - cicerone imposter - 10/02/2016Be quiet because I have something to say.
[+3] - Ragman - 10/02/2016It means hold the noise down.
[+3] - ehBeth - 10/05/2016He is telling/asking them to stop talking. Hold it down has to do with the noise of them talking.

@Razmysl,

It means hold the noise down.

2 Replies

@Ragman,

Be quiet because I have something to say.

1 Reply

@Razmysl,

Hey, can't you guys see that gal over there for the last five minutes holding the tray with all our beer

1 Reply

@Ragman,

Thanks a lot, Ragman. You know, I live in Russia and don't know nuances of English. Could you elucidate me, what "hold the noise down" is?:
a) to lessen loudness of a noise, make a noise but not so loudly
b) not to make any noise at all, be silent

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Many thanks, cicerone imposter.
I don't see what's the difference between "hold the noise down" and "Be quiet" yet. Will you kindly tell it?

1 Reply

@Razmysl,

Hold the noise down allows some noise to remain. Quiet means no noise.

1 Reply

@Razmysl,

Razmysl wrote:

Thanks a lot, Ragman. You know, I live in Russia and don't know nuances of English. Could you elucidate me, what "hold the noise down" is?:
a) to lessen loudness of a noise, make a noise but not so loudly
b) not to make any noise at all, be silent

It can mean both. The character in the movie is saying it so that he can be heard either by lessening the noise or silencing the noise completely.

1 Reply

@cicerone imposter,

Thank you, cicerone imposter. I wish you all the best.

0 Replies

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

The character in the movie is saying it so that he can be heard either by lessening the noise or silencing the noise completely.

It's fine. Thank you so much, InfraBlue.
And what if the foreman meant by "hold it down" not "hold the noise down" but "stop it"? So could he mean the following while he was saying the sentence in the movie: "Can we stop chattering, walking around and keep it so a minute?"?
What is your opinion about it?

1 Reply

@Razmysl,

Razmysl wrote:

InfraBlue wrote:
The character in the movie is saying it so that he can be heard either by lessening the noise or silencing the noise completely.

It's fine. Thank you so much, InfraBlue.
And what if the foreman meant by "hold it down" not "hold the noise down" but "stop it"? So could he mean the following while he was saying the sentence in the movie: "Can we stop chattering, walking around and keep it so a minute?"?
What is your opinion about it?

By saying "can we hold it down a minute," he's referring to the chatter more than anything else.

1 Reply

@dalehileman,

dalehileman wrote:

Hey, can't you guys see that gal over there for the last five minutes holding the tray with all our beer

It's a funny joke.

0 Replies

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

By saying "can we hold it down a minute," he's referring to the chatter more than anything else.

Thank you, dear InfraBlue. OK, then, what did he mean by saying "Can we hold it down...?": "Can we stop chattering completely?" or "Can we chatter not so lively and loudly?"?
Kind regards.

1 Reply

@Razmysl,

He is telling/asking them to stop talking.

Hold it down has to do with the noise of them talking.

1 Reply

@Razmysl

He's being understated because I would think that he'd want complete silence instead of just a reduction of noise.

Maybe he could have stated in a more authoritarian way, "Silence!" but he was being polite.

2 Replies

@InfraBlue,

I think some here a making too fine a point of it.

The guy who said it just wanted to say something, get the deliberations underway, and was indicating it was time to stop the chatter.

It's just an expression, not something he was giving a lot of thought to.

0 Replies

@InfraBlue,

InfraBlue wrote:

He's being understated because I would think that he'd want complete silence instead of just a reduction of noise.

Maybe he could have stated in a more authoritarian way, "Silence!" but he was being polite.

That's it. It is just I lacked to comprehend completely a meaning and an undertone of the expression "hold it down" in such context. Thanks, InfraBlue.

0 Replies

@ehBeth,

ehBeth, InfraBlue, chai2, you have supported me superbly on this way, and the question is settled now. Guys, I hope that I'll have another chance to communicate with you what gives me pleasure. Thank you, bye!

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hold it down

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