Mettre le holà

Literally: To put the holà

Example: “Quand les dépenses ont explosé, la trésorière a mis le holà.” — When spending went through the roof, the treasurer put her foot down.

English equivalent: To put one's foot down

Origin: Holà is an interjection from the middle of the 14th century, assembled — the Grand Robert says, and it is hard to argue — out of ho and là. It did two jobs. It hailed people (holà, qui va là ? — who goes there?), and it stopped them: a quarrel getting out of hand or a guest overstepping would draw a holà, suffit ! — that's enough — and a team of horses was pulled up with the same word, when they felt like listening. The expression grows out of that second job, arriving in the middle of the 17th century, with faire holà and dire holà a little earlier.