HODL
Etymology
Born from a drunken, misspelled 2013 post on the Bitcointalk forum titled "I AM HODLING," a typo of "holding." The community adopted the error, and the backronym "Hold On for Dear Life" was invented afterward — flag it as a retrofit, not the source.
verb · /HAH-dul/
To hold a crypto asset stubbornly through price swings rather than selling.
What it names
It captures a whole investing posture — refusing to trade on panic — and is a vivid example of a mistake becoming a movement’s creed.
Example
While everyone else panic-sold in the crash, he decided to just HODL and wait it out.
Related idea
Sits opposite paper hands (selling at the first sign of trouble) and beside diamond hands (holding through anything).