3 ms·
Doesn’t “try” imply possibility of failure to complete?
by sssilver 1y ago
Doesn’t “try” imply possibility of failure to complete?
- zarzavat 1y ago"Could you wash the dog?" Is not a question asking whether the person is capable of washing the dog. It's a command phrased politely. "Try to wash the dog" "Try and wash the dog" If you had no prior information on whether the dog likes water or not, I'd say that the try-and version expresses a greater level of confidence that washing the dog will be successful, in other words it's a command. Whereas try-to could be read either straight (this task may fail) or as a command phrased politely.
- cratermoon 1y agoThe linguistic prescriptivist in in me cringes at "try and", but I recognize usage has moved on. https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/were-going-to-explain-the-deal-with-try-and-and-try-to https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/were-going-to-explai...
- antonvs 1y agoWhen prescriptivism is balking at usages that have been continuously in effect for four centuries, the problem is not with the usage. The prescriptivism you're using is suspect.
- llbbdd 1y agoPrescriptivism is silly anyway, you'd be better off counting sand.
- nyeah 1y agoYeah. Prescriptivism may have a worthwhile role to play. But it needs to be a lot more thought out than "what some authority wrote 75 years ago".
- NuclearPM 1y agoPrescriptivism is good. I could care less.
- antonvs 1y agoHaha I love it. Yiddish constructions ftw.
- elliotec 1y agoIt still implies possibility of failure, but in the example of the commenter above, that possibility is almost low enough to the point of expectation (but not quite) and "try to" would increase that possibility in the direction of failure. Nuance!