Sometimes complications over the licensing of other artists' work can hold things up.

FORBES: Music's Online Holdouts

Late Friday, Miami-based Ivax (nyse: IVX - news - people ) said it had received tentative approval to sell generic versions of diabetes drug Glucophage, despite brandmaker Bristol-Myers Squibb (nyse: BMY - news - people ) trying to hold things up with discussions regarding the generic drug's label.

FORBES: FDA Stands Firm On Generics

They will fetch and carry parts, hold things, pick up tools, sort items, clean up and make themselves useful in myriad other ways.

ECONOMIST: Automation

The effect, of course, is to slow things down and hold you up, as in a literary traffic jam and there are numerous descriptions of traffic jams and routes through London.

ECONOMIST: New fiction

Of course, a "touchscreen for a DSLR" is a bit tricky to patent on its own, so Canon is taking a slightly more unique approach: attempting to patent a touchscreen that prevents you from accidentally touching things when you hold the camera up to your face.

ENGADGET: Canon patent application points to touchscreen DSLRs

To survive the outbreak and the price crash, pig farmers either had to sell out to bigger companies, hold out hope that things would get better or specialize in up-market cuts of pork.

NPR: Family Farms Lose Out on Upswing of Pork Exports

The hold up is that the tax deal did more than a few things retroactively.

FORBES: IRS Issues Statement On Tax Legislation, Makes No Promises About Start Of Tax Season

"We man up and hold each other accountable each possession, and then when things do go wrong, your teammate has your back, " Indiana point guard George Hill said.

NPR: Pacers Rout Knicks, Pull Closer To Second In East

For those who consider gaming their utmost priority, they take things one step further, telling them flat out to hold off on upgrading until ATI and NVIDIA get their software up to speed.

ENGADGET: ATI / NVIDIA Vista gaming performance compared