Get a Hold of This: Distinguishing A Hold from Ahold


Posted on Mar 15, 2021

Some people have had their fair share of breakdowns. It’s okay, we’re all human. One way to go about it is to message loved ones and just rant about it. On some occasions, a friend or relative would give this timeless piece of advice: get ahold of yourself. If good fortune strikes, someone in the group chat might respond with “a hold.” Some might feel that it’s an untimely correction, but to finally settle the score, it’s time to talk about the differences between a hold and ahold.


A Hold from Ahold

To begin with, a hold is a phrase that functions as an adverb. It consists of the indefinite article a and the noun hold, which, in this case, means “full comprehension”, “full or immediate control”, or “contact”. It is almost always used in conjunction with the verb get. People who are going on an angry fit are often told to get a hold of themselves as a way to say “control yourself”.


Here are a few examples to review the uses of this phrase:


Full comprehension

  1. Lydia easily got a hold of everything the physics professor was discussing.

  2. Martin can’t get a hold of what his friends are fighting about.


Full or immediate control

  1. The charismatic consul always manages to get a hold of those under his command.

  2. It’s fairly normal for a child to be unable to get a hold of their own emotions.


Contact

  1. Is it true that Diana got a hold of Trevor?

  2. Kali couldn’t get a hold of Indira because she was in a dead spot.


Hold has many other functions as a verb and a noun, but the meanings stated above are its common applications in the phrase being discussed.


As for ahold, it’s more or less the same.


So what’s the catch? In formal situations, one might want to do away with using ahold. It’s an informal contraction of a hold and chiefly used in casual situations in America. Only in America. Everywhere else, they say a hold, and ahold is widely considered a spelling error. So that one friend in the group chat who offered a correction for the phrase? They’re technically right.


Word of advice: Just use a hold, or simply, hold. It’s safer that way.


We hope this was easy to get a hold of. If you’ve got other questions about grammar and writing, just get a hold of us through our inbox. Now we’ll stop pushing the phrase before we wear out its welcome.



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