Oh, These “Trying” Times
Official Pet Peeves (OPP)
By: The Official Self-Appointed Pet Peeve Judge
(and no, you can’t have my job!)
My First Official Pet Peeve
TRY AND: as in, “He will try and make it to the meeting on time.”
Okay, this one tops my list. I see red whenever I encounter it. My blood pressure rises. I have trouble breathing. Smoke shoots out my ears.
An overreaction? I don’t think so. This is an egregious error. As writers, we have the responsibility to know our own language. And we should be smart enough to use it properly, especially if we can figure out how to use today’s technology to crank out our … opuses? Opi? Well, you get my drift. It’s not like the old days when anyone with a pencil sharpener could jot down a few hundred thousand words or so. I mean, if we can figure out not only how to open the box the computer comes in (let’s not even discuss the printer and other indispensable adjuncts!), but also to get the computer out of the maze in which it nestles, and then hook it up sans directions of any kind (except for maybe a confusing picture or two, or a bewildering sentence written by someone who’s never heard of English before), we should be able to write a grammatically correct sentence.
Let me make this clear: try and is not only ungrammatical, it’s illogical. By its very nature it’s impossible to try and do anything. You either try to do it (and thereby succeed or fail) or you simply go ahead and do it. No “try and” about it. I suppose, to be fair, if it’s used as part of dialog, I’d be willing to overlook it once or twice. People do have a tendency to be sloppy about grammar and verb conjugations, et al, when they talk. But within the body of the prose? No. Never. Those guilty of such trespass on erudite sensibilities will be sentenced to an eternity of nails-screeching-on-blackboard torture. Therefore, remember: it’s “try to” or “do” only, never “try and.”
So, now it’s your turn. What are your pet peeves? What, in the world of writing, makes you see red, raises your blood pressure, makes steam come out your ears? I may be self-appointed but I’m not greedy – I’ll share space with anyone whose peeve measures up. What, tell you the criteria that makes a peeve “official”? Oh, I’d never make it that easy for you.
So, unless you want to continue hearing my pet peeve rants (and I’ve got a thousand of them), email me your entries at: susantwriter@yahoo.com
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I found your site by searching for “try and” [on Google]. I searched for it because it’s my #1 pet peeve, too. Yikes! [Someone, please try diagramming a sentence containing "try and".]
However, whenever I bring up my annoyance to friends—ones who care about language—or try to explain why “try and” is ungrammatical, they just look puzzled. I was beginning to think that I was the only one who “got it.”
I have a theory about its origin. In English we often pronounce “and” as an /n/ sound (as in “mom-’n'-pop store”). We also often pronounce the “to” in “try to” as /n/.
In my opinion, both of these are very natural and acceptable modifications we make to simplify pronunciation. It’s similar to changing the “ng” sound to “n” in “going” (i.e., “goin’”).
So “n” is short for both “and” and “to”. Maybe people enunciate “and” whenever they are tempted to say “n”, thinking that they are correcting themselves, but doing it regardless of which word they mean.
If this were true, wouldn’t that make “try and” an example of “over-correction”? (As is “He told Bill and I.”, rather than “He told Bill and me”.)
P.S.: Please forgive my inconsistent use of full stops both inside and outside of double quotes.
Sorry, Jerry, laziness just doesn’t cut it with me. We all went to school, and some of us (at least you and I) even paid attention! LOL As I said, I’m willing to overlook this egregious error in dialogue because people do speak very ungrammatically. But never in the body of text – /n/ sounds not withstanding! Sure nice to know that someone else out there chews nails and spits out tacks at the sound of “try and.” BTW, no one in my two critique groups gets away with that phrase – and they know enough by now not to try! LOL