Steven P. McNicoll wrote:

You're joking, aren't you?

No.

If a pilot can mistakenly understand "hold position" instead of
"position and hold", then it doesn't take much imagination to see that
he can also mistakenly understand "position and hold" instead of "hold
position". Does this take so much imagination?

Example
Pilot (waiting at holding point to some runway): Asks for something.
Tower: "Hold position!" (Because there's a plane in short final.)
Pilot: Understands "position and hold".

Stefan