I always heard/saw it as "in the hole" instead of "hold". The person next on the ladder to reach the deck, would be sitting in a hole... somebody in the "hold" sounds like he's locked up in the brig.
My bad, NCwingman, it is "hole" not "hold". Not to be confused with a chant from my daze of youth : "Hey, batter; your bat's got a HOLE in it".
A noteworthy POE is "Proper Procedures for Weather Delays."
While still in draft form, the crux is :
If Thor ,the Greek God of Lightning, arrives close to halftime you can .....
(1) resume the end of 2nd quarter 30 minutes after he leaves AND proceed with halftime after he leaves, by mutual agreement of the coaches the halftime can be shortened to 10 minutes;
(2) by mutual agreement of the coaches and referee, the 2nd qtr. could be ended and the weather delay could be considered halftime;
(3) CAN'T CONSIDER THE DELAY HALFTIME AND STILL FINISH 2ND QTR. AFTER.