"increasing" use of variable TRY AND

[P2052 at AOL.COM]

I don't know about others (I haven't seen all of the comments), but, for me
the forms, "try to be nice" and "try and be nice" are different
pragmatically.

"Try to be nice" is a mild command with an ironic twist (The speaker doesn't
expect the hearer to nice but is letting the hearer know that (s)he expects
him or her to make the attempt anyway.)  For me, this surface imperative is
really a tag question:  "Try to be nice, okay?"  Or perhaps it is a question
generally--tagged or not: "Will you please try to be nice?" I can compare it
with "attempt [WHAT]," as in "attempt/try to behave," "try [to be good],"
"try to be real, " "try to be quiet,"  and "try to keep your head on
straight,"  and "try to conduct yourself like a young lady."

"Try and be nice," in contrast, is a direct and indirect imperative, with
emphasis on both infinitives.  The speaker does not just want the hearer to
put forth an effort (or, more specifically, go through the motions); the
speaker wants the hearer to accomplish the ultimate goal of the dream state:
niceness.  This pattern is analogous with "try and behave," "try and be
good," "try and be real," "try and be quiet," "try and keep your head on
straight," "try and conduct yourself like a young lady,"

In essence, the difference is that in the pattern, "try to be [ADJ]," the
hearer is being asked only to initiate a process leading to an end state,
whereas in "try and be [ADJ]," the hearer is being told to both initiate and
complete the process resulting in the desired end state.    Thus, with the
former, the focus is on the process while, with the latter, the focus is on
the end state.   (Consider also "go/believe and be
saved/blessed/whole/free/liberated/cleansed, which while pragmatically
different [pronouncements  whose second verb introduces a state bestowed by
an unidentified subject], have a similar focus on the end state
(saved/blessed), rather than the process ("going" or "believing") which leads
to that ultimate state.

Then again, it's late.  Maybe I should try "to?and?" get some sleep.
                                                                PAT