To hold over THOSE to whom the state owned money

Question

"If the i.o.u.'s are issued as threated, it would be the first time since 1992 -- when Gov. Pete Wilson paid roughly 100,000 state employees with them -- that the warrants were used to hold over those to whom the state owed money. "

(encarta.msn dictionary)

hold over defer something, to postpone action on or consideration of something until a later date.

So I guess the pattern should be hold over something to somebody.

but what does the those, a demonstrative pronoun, refer to?

I guess it refers to money, payments to state employee. It just confuses me when I see a pronoun there and couldn't figure out to what it refers.

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

The definition of hold over that you need here is to keep longer than expected. If the state cannot continue to pay its employees because of budget problems, the employees are in effect, unemployed. They cannot be expected to continue to report to work. But the state wishes to keep these employees, even while not paying them. The IOU's (that is, warrants; that is, promises to pay later) are a way of keeping those employees working usefully at their jobs -- a way of holding them over. The warrants were used to hold over (keep employed) those (people; employees) that the state owed money to. Without the promises to be paid, the employees would quit and find employment elsewhere.

Does that help?

CJ

Avangi · Answer

akdom"If the i.o.u.'s are issued as threated, it would be the first time since 1992 -- when Gov. Pete Wilson paid roughly 100,000 state employees with them -- that the warrants were used to hold over those to whom the state owed money. "

(encarta.msn dictionary)

hold over defer something, to postpone action on or consideration of something until a later date.

So I guess the pattern should be hold over something to somebody. This really doesn't work!

but what does the those, a demonstrative pronoun, refer to? (the people)

I guess it refers to money, payments to state employee. It just confuses me when I see a pronoun there and couldn't figure out to what it refers. I don't think this is a really great example of English construction. (typo: "as threatened")
I take "hold over" here in the sense of "tide over." I suppose it's a compound verb meaning to help someone get through a difficult [financial] period. "Here! This will tide you over til payday."
The direct object of the verb is the person helped. "This will hold you over."
"This will hold over those who have no money." In this case, the whole clause is object of the verb.
In your actual sentence, "those" + its clause is object of the infinitive. "Those" doesn't refer back to anything.

I think your dictionary meaning of "to hold over" would apply to "The movie was held over for an extra week."

But the pattern in your sentence is to hold sombody over until X. (to help them over)

I don't really think it means to force them to remain, but the sentence is so bad it could mean anything.
Granted, the I.O.U.'s don't buy much bread, but they might hold off the creditors.

CalifJim · Answer

Avangi,

I, too, started down the path of "hold over" = "tide over", but had to erase my entire post and start over once I realized what the writer really meant.

It doesn't mean that the employees will be able to hold off creditors, nor that the IOU's will tide the employees over until they get real money, but that the state will keep them (hold them over) by promising to pay later. The state won't force them to remain, but will "entice" them to remain. Well, that's how I'd put it, anyway.

CJ

Avangi · Answer

Unfortunately, I didn't see your post before I wrote mine. When I read yours, I knew you were right, but I didn't have the oomph to write another one.

(I still think it's a lousy sentence!)

- A.

To hold over THOSE to whom the state owned money

Top answer

Get the Weekly English Kit 📬

Related Questions