Word Confusion: Ad versus Add

Posted January 20, 2014 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

Revised as of
16 Aug 2023

I suspect this one is more a case of missing or, ahem, adding the d without paying attention. Kind of an ADD thing to do.

I’ve always thought commercials and billboards or Anno Domini when I encounter an ad, and I hadn’t realized how very active ad is from military and sports to movements and birth. Well, think about it. Leaping onto nouns to form new words, if that ain’t birth, I don’t know what is.

As for add, it’s got a bit going on as well, but when you get past abbreviations and nouns, add‘s predictable, and you simply keep adding things in over and over and over and…

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noire for you from either end.

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Ad	Add
Drink Coca-Cola 5¢ is by the Coca-Cola Company and is in the public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. — I do love an old-fashioned ad.	Calculator by Purest is in the public domain, via PxHere. — It is easier and faster to add things up with a calculator.
Part of Grammar:
Abbreviation ¹; Noun ², ³; Prefix; Suffix ⁴, ⁵ Plural for the noun: ads	Abbreviation ¹, ²; Noun ³; Verb ³, intransitive & transitive ¹ Plural for the noun: ADD Gerund: adding Third person present verb: adds Past tense or past participle: added Present participle: adding
Abbreviation: [Military] Active duty ¹ Armored division [Usually AD] Anno Domini (used to indicate that a date comes the specified number of years after the accepted date of Christ’s birth) Athletic director Noun: [Informal] An advertisement ² [Informal; tennis] Short for advantage ³ Prefix: Denoting motion or direction to ³ Reduction or change into Addition, increase, or intensification Suffix: Suffix-forming nouns ⁴ In collective numerals In groups, periods, or aggregates In names of females in classical mythology In names of districts In names of poems and similar compositions Forming names of members of some taxonomic groupings Suffix-forming nouns such as ballad or salad ⁵	Abbreviation: `analog digital digital`, indicating that a music recording was made in analog format before being mastered and stored digitally ¹ [Also ADHD] Attention deficit (hyperactivity) disorder ² Noun: [Always all-caps] Any of a range of behavioral disorders occurring primarily in children, including such symptoms as poor concentration, hyperactivity, and impulsivity. Verb, intransitive: Join something to something else so as to increase the size, number, or amount [add up] Increase in amount, number, or degree Put together (two or more numbers or amounts) to calculate their total value [add up to] Amount to [Usually with negative; add up; informal] Seem reasonable or consistent Make sense Verb, transitive: Join something to something else so as to increase the size, number, or amount Put or mix (an ingredient) together with another as one of the stages in the preparation of a dish Put something in or on something else so as to improve or alter its quality or nature Contribute (an enhancing quality) to something Put together (two or more numbers or amounts) to calculate their total value [Reporting verb] Say as a further remark
Examples:
Abbreviation: I’m on AD with the AD. It took place AD 680. It was in the third century AD that two serious threats almost saw the collapse of the Roman Empire. Noun: I ran an ad in the paper. Do you want to put an ad in to work the whole month or for just a week? Prefix: George gave Pete an advance. A number of factors are adduced to explain the situation. I was having a hard time adapting. The meat was ground fine and adulterated with potato flour. Henry built an addition to his house. He was an adjunct professor of entomology. But will it adhere to the brick? He felt that his work was an admixture of aggression and creativity. Suffix: They formed a pentad. A triad of medication, diet, and exercise are necessary in diabetes care. They celebrated the 42nd International Mathematics Olympiad. As their trees were cut down, the dryads were dying out. The pollution in the waters was affecting the naiads. In ancient times, Troy was located in Troad. Homer wrote the Iliad. The jeremiads of puritan preachers warned of moral decay. That is a gorgeous bromeliad!	Abbreviation: Paul picked up the ADD manual for his converter. He has been diagnosed as ADD. Noun: He shows all the signs of being afflicted with ADD. John shows all the signs of having ADD. Verb, intransitive: This development added to the problems facing the staff. Watch those air miles add up! Children learned to add and subtract quickly and accurately. This adds up to a total of 400 calories. Many things in her story didn’t add up. Verb, transitive: A new wing was added to the building. Some box offices now add on a handling charge. One vitamin tablet daily will give added protection. Add the flour to the eggs, stirring continuously. Chlorine is added to the water to kill bacteria. The fruit juice contains no added sugar. The canopy will add a touch of class to your bedroom. They added all the figures up. Add the two numbers together. “I hope we haven’t been too much trouble,” she added politely. We would like to add our congratulations . . . He added that few of America’s allies would support military action.
Derivatives:
	Adjective: addable, addible, unaddable Adverb: addedly Verb: misadd, readd
History of the Word:
Unknown. Mid-19th century, and it’s an abbreviation. From the Latin ad, meaning to. In the 16th century, the use of ad- and its variants was extended to replace a- from a different origin such as the Latin ab-, e.g., advance, which is from the French avancer, which is based on the late Latin abante meaning in front. From the Greek -ad- (from nouns ending in -as). Representing the French noun ending -ade.	Ca. 1951, Bernard Marshall Gordon helped create the first current switching digital-to-analog converter at the Laboratory for Electronics (LFE), a spinoff of the wartime Radiation Laboratory at MIT. It was first recorded in 1975–80. Late Middle English from the Latin addere, which is from ad-, meaning to + the base of dare put.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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