[Ads-l] _try to_ vs. _try and_

[Jonathan Lighter]

I was taught this as well.

But I always say "and."

And I always right "to."

JL

On Sat, Dec 16, 2017 at 4:39 AM, Margaret Lee <
0000006730deb3bf-dmarc-request at listserv.uga.edu> wrote:

>  Yes, I was taught to use 'try to' rather than 'try and'.   The old
> 'proper English' mandate, but what exactly is 'proper English'?  Who
> decides what is 'proper'?   Are any of you familiar with the Max Weinreich
> quote:  "A language is a dialect with an army an a navy" ?
> --Margaret Lee
>
>     On ‎Saturday‎, ‎December‎ ‎16‎, ‎2017‎ ‎12‎:‎04‎:‎23‎ ‎AM‎ ‎EST,
> Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
>
>  I was somewhat intrigued to find, in Am.Sp., Vol.81, No.3, an article with
> the following title:
>
> Why Does Canadian English use _try to_, But British English Use _try and_?
>
> Not having read the article, I have no answer to that question. However, I
> *can* answer the question, "Why do _I_ use _try to_ and not _try and_?"
>
> The answer is simple. I was specifically *taught* not to use _try and_,
> because the construction is semi-literate and déclassé, used only by the
> ill-taught lower orders. The well-educated, better classes use only _try
> to_, as one of many small ways in which their use of language demonstrates
> their command of proper English.
>
> Didn't none of y'all get taught this class distinction, I reckon.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint to
> come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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>
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> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>



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