English for Today by Ganiu Abisoye Bamgbose (Dr GAB)
Do you HOLD FORTH or HOLD THE FORT?
I will ~hold forth~ while you go take care of your mum (nonstandard).
I will *hold the fort* while you go take care of your mum (standard).
If you hold the fort for someone, or, in American English, if you hold down the fort, you look after things for them while they are somewhere else or are busy doing something else.
*To hold forth* is to talk about a particular subject for a long time, often in a way that other people find boring:
Once it’s politics, he can hold forth for hours. ✅
GAB
