What is the correct way of saying something like, “I got a hold of him on the telephone?” Should it be “I got hold of him” or even, as I’ve seen, “I got ahold of him?” It seems like an awkward phrase.
The former would be better. You could also use ‘reached’ or ‘contacted’. But ‘got hold of’ seems fine to me. IANA English teacher though.
You could even say ‘Aquired’ if you wanted strange looks.
I was always under the impression that it was the last of your examples, using “ahold”. That’s the way I visualize and write it.
I thought the basic verb was *to get hold of * someone. So I’d say *I got hold of him * on the phone.
Actually I’m more likely to say *I rang him * or I spoke to him on the phone.
Hm. Sounds like a conflict between various native speakers of English. So it’s going to vary depending (apparently) on whether you’re American or not.
But what, then, does “ahold” mean?
“get ahold of” is an idiom. It means “get hold of” (also an idiom). Either is correct.