Internet
holup
What does holup mean?
A reaction screaming 'wait, what?' — you spotted something off, suspicious, or wildly out of pocket in what was just said or shown, and you need everyone to rewind. The deliberate misspelling does the work: it signals you're not literally pausing, you're double-taking.
"Holup — did that recipe just say two cups of mayonnaise?"
Origin
Popularised by r/holdup (and later r/HolUp), a Reddit community built around screenshots that make you do a literal double-take. The spelling mimics how the phrase actually sounds when blurted out.
Frequently asked questions
What does "holup" mean?
It's a stylised spelling of "hold up" — a way of saying stop, back up, something just got weird.
How do you use "holup" in a sentence?
"Holup, did he just say he's known about this the whole time?"
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