ETYMOLOGY

The term's evolution mirrors China's urban transformation. The watershed moment came in 2003 when the Yang family in Chongqing refused to move their house surrounded by a 10-meter-deep construction pit. CCTV's documentary Holdouts achieved 4.7% ratings, cementing the term in public consciousness.

Post-2015 saw semantic expansion: Xiaomi fans called MIUI 9 holdouts "system dingzihu", while Genshin Impact players mocked Snapdragon 835 users as "hardware dingzihu". Among Gen-Z, being a holdout became a badge of honor with memes like "I holdout, therefore I am".

Modern Usage:"IE browser holdouts in 2023? That's next-level digital archaeology" (Reddit comment)"Our XP holdouts make IT guys offer incense to their computers" (Blind forum)