Why do we say "try and" [verb] instead of "try to" [verb]? (E.g., "Try and call me tomorrow.")

Solution 1:

I'd like to hazard a guess on this one. The construct "try and do such and such" sounds to me very much like a figure of speech called hendiadys. This figure of speech is the use of two words joined by a conjunction to mean just the one word, but mean so emphatically. In fact the name "hendiadys" literally means "one through two."

I believe it was more common in classical languages than in English, but this would surely attest to its ancient origin. Examples might be "shock and awe", "rant and rave", "plain and simple". Wikipedia gives some other examples and more information.

It does seem uncommon with verbs, but it is certainly not unknown. The Bible is replete with such examples. For example, Jesus told Zacchaeus to "haste and come down from the tree." These were not two actions, but one, meaning specifically hastily come down. A common idiom in Bible English is "He answered and said...", again not one action but two, meaning "he said in answer ...".

I wonder if "try and do such and such" is a remnant of that type of hendiadys. Opinions?

Solution 2:

The only issue not covered by the question OP linked to arises from the mistaken assumption that try and is some kind of latter-day corruption of an established 'correct' form try to.

But that's probably not how to look at it — most likely try and was around all the time, and it may well predate try to. I think probably various language mavens considered the 'grammar' of try and, decided it contravened their idea of logic, and succeeded in fooling at least some people into their way of thinking for some of the time.

LATER - Thanks to Peter Shor for this little gem...

Suspect: "Try and convict me." Prosecutor: "Have it your way. We'll try and convict you."

I'd also like to make the grammatic/semantic case for try and, since others seem to assume it's just an inexplicable linguistic aberration.

To try can mean to make an effort, which can be seen as an action in and of itself. So you can make an effort and thereby achieve the desired result. This doesn't really work if you assume to try is a synonym for to attempt, because grammatically you need to attempt something.

Note that we're assuming the effort will in fact be successful, and therefore the result will follow. In this way of looking at things, to try and do something is simply a more 'optimistic' phrasing than try to.

Some people may object to try and, but have no problem with make an effort and. Die-hards may need to go one step further and equate make an effort with give it one's best shot, or similar. As you move further away from the concept of attempting with the possibility of failure, and more towards making the necessary effort to achieve something, it seems to me that and becomes more and more the more appropriate word.

In short, try and can be seen as a somewhat more optimistic way of referring to some endeavour than try to. It's the linguistic device hendiadys as put forward by Fraser Orr, conflating the effort with the accomplishment.

As Jedi warriors such as myself and Yoda say: There is no try. There is only do.