Lexicon Valley: English grammar quirk in which an infinitive morphs into the Latin rhetorical device hendiadys.

Slate’s Dan Kois Wrote “Try And” Instead of “Try To.” Is He Illiterate?

Slate’s Dan Kois Wrote “Try And” Instead of “Try To.” Is He Illiterate?

Slate
Lexicon Valley
A show about the mysteries of English.
March 23 2015 10:35 AM

Is “Try And” an Acceptable Substitute for “Try To”?

Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a quirk of grammar that Henry Fowler believed “should not be discountenanced.”

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Photo illustration by Lisa Larson-Walker. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Listen to Lexicon Valley Episode No. 56: And Infinitum:

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Slate culture editor Dan Kois notified his colleagues recently that he was “getting offline for a bit to try and write.” Try and write. Kois is obviously an ignoramus, since what he should have written was “try to write,” right? Listen to Bob Garfield and Mike Vuolo discuss a quirk of English grammar that dates back at least four centuries.

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