Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
hold (sb) to task
English answer:
hold (sb) responsible
Added to glossary by
Matheus Chaud
Jul 3, 2018 14:34
5 yrs ago
3 viewers *
English term
Brazil
IT Specialist • M.A. in Linguistics
Native in: Portuguese (Variant: Brazilian) 
Works in: English to Portuguese, Spanish to Portuguese, Portuguese to English, and 1 more.
hold sb to task
English
Bus/Financial
Management
This is a video course about effective leadership.
I have this particular construction (hold sb to task) on two occasions:
1)
I had a stowaway on my team once.
He used to spend all of his time out of the office visiting our various locations.
I didn't have to invest a lot of time and energy in him, since I never saw him around.
At the end of the year, I noticed he wasn't delivering any results.
What I had to do the next year was invest more leadership capital focusing him and holding him to task to deliver specific results.
2)
I used to be a slacker at one point.
I had the ability to deliver great work. I just wasn't excited about the work I was doing.
My manager intervened.
He spent a lot of time with me letting me know, here are the performance standards.
He held me to task, and eventually we both figured out what would excite me more about the work I was doing.
Does the expression have the same meaning in both occasions? If so, how would you paraphrase it?
Thank you for your attention.
I have this particular construction (hold sb to task) on two occasions:
1)
I had a stowaway on my team once.
He used to spend all of his time out of the office visiting our various locations.
I didn't have to invest a lot of time and energy in him, since I never saw him around.
At the end of the year, I noticed he wasn't delivering any results.
What I had to do the next year was invest more leadership capital focusing him and holding him to task to deliver specific results.
2)
I used to be a slacker at one point.
I had the ability to deliver great work. I just wasn't excited about the work I was doing.
My manager intervened.
He spent a lot of time with me letting me know, here are the performance standards.
He held me to task, and eventually we both figured out what would excite me more about the work I was doing.
Does the expression have the same meaning in both occasions? If so, how would you paraphrase it?
Thank you for your attention.
Responses
| 4 +5 | Hold him responsible |
Tina Vonhof (X)
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| 4 +4 | held me to account |
Jack Doughty
|
| 3 | hold someone accountable |
Arabic & More
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Change log
Jul 5, 2018 02:39: Matheus Chaud changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/1185461">Matheus Chaud's</a> old entry - "hold sb to task"" to ""hold sb responsible""
Responses
+5
15 mins
Selected
Hold him responsible
Make HIM responsible for doing his job. If the person himself is responsible for doing his job, then he also knows that he will be fired if he does not perform. That is different from being the kind of supervisor who constantly looks over the employee's shoulder and micromanages.
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Note added at 20 mins (2018-07-03 14:54:53 GMT)
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As the context explains, holding him responsible involves talking to him and maybe breaking the job down into specific goals to make the work more doable and rewarding.
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Note added at 20 mins (2018-07-03 14:54:53 GMT)
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As the context explains, holding him responsible involves talking to him and maybe breaking the job down into specific goals to make the work more doable and rewarding.
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you, Tina!! It fits perfectly in the context."
+4
16 mins
Jack Doughty
United Kingdom
United Kingdom
Native in English
&
English
United Kingdom
Translator since 1953
Native in: English
Works in: Russian to English, German to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
52
held me to account
considered me responsible, usually implies criticism.
Note from asker:
| Thank you, Jack! |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
writeaway
1 hr
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Rachel Fell
5 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
Yewande Oluwajobi
2 days 3 hrs
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Thank you.
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| agree |
NishantM
5 days
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Thank you.
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17 mins
Arabic & More
Jordan
Jordan
Native in English
&
English
Jordan
Professional Writer and Translator
Native in: English (Variant: US) 
Works in: Arabic to English, English to Arabic, English
hold someone accountable
Speaking from an American English perspective, the phrase we typically use is "take someone to task," which means to criticize someone or hold them accountable for something.
In your context, I think the first one means "hold accountable," while the second means "provided (constructive) criticism."
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Note added at 22 mins (2018-07-03 14:56:55 GMT)
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Sorry, I got cut off before I could complete my answer. The second one seems to imply that criticism was given, and that the manager made it clear that he would have to take responsibility for meeting the given standards. I think it was "constructive" criticism, however, because they worked together to find a solution.
In your context, I think the first one means "hold accountable," while the second means "provided (constructive) criticism."
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Note added at 22 mins (2018-07-03 14:56:55 GMT)
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Sorry, I got cut off before I could complete my answer. The second one seems to imply that criticism was given, and that the manager made it clear that he would have to take responsibility for meeting the given standards. I think it was "constructive" criticism, however, because they worked together to find a solution.
Note from asker:
| Thank you, Amel! |
Peer comment(s):
| neutral |
B D Finch
: I believe that "taking someone to task" means giving them a bollocking and "holding someone to task" means not letting them off the responsibility for doing the job. (Both of these expressions are used in EN-UK too.)
6 mins
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I wondered about that, hence my lower confidence-level. I'd love to know the difference.
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| neutral |
Robert Forstag
: I think B D is right, although it seems to me that "holding someone to task" is not (as far as I know) much used in the US (where one might more commonly see "hold accountable" or "hold someone´s feet to the fire" in such contexts).
6 hrs
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