Thursday, February 07, 2008

try and

Well, since Mr. Wilson and I find ourselves correcting the world's grammar, let's do one more. If I don't "go postal" over thusly, it will be over try and.
For generations, commentators have criticized try and, as in I’ll try and see her tomorrow, preferring try to in such constructions. Both have been in constant use throughout the period, however, and the main difference is that try and is almost always limited to Casual and Impromptu levels and their written imitations, whereas try to is Standard, appropriate at all levels.
To repeat, "try to is Standard, appropriate to all levels." That's Mr. Wilson's gentle way of saying "Never say try and'; always say try to.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Interesting.

I don't live in or near a big city anymore. But.....one thing that was sure to cook my grits was the report from the traffic helicopter that alerted us that a car was "....broken down in the left....". I guess these cars were truely disabled since thaey were 'broken down' as opposed to 'broken up'. Simply saying that the cars were broken or disbled I guess doesn't really convey the severity of the problem.,

Jack