According to the Times of London, in Andrew Ross Sorkin's book on the Lehman collapse, "Mr Paulson, the former head of Goldman Sachs...had said at the time that he was anxious that the Wall Street bank was rescued because “I don’t want to be left here holding Herman” — a lewd American reference.
by mitchw23 October 29, 2009
To stand by doing nothing while something exciting is happening. Used frequently on Wall Street to denote someone missing out on a winning trade. Literally means holding one’s penis.
by Stonktopus August 18, 2022