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zahlmanlast Sunday at 3:09 PM1 replyview on HN

The point specifically is that the "and" in "try and" conceptually should be "adding a second thing" (what they mean by "coordination"), but isn't doing so in a fully regular way. Specifically, it seems like it should coordinate "try to kill mosquitos" and "[actually] kill mosquitos", but that interpretation isn't fully compatible with how the word "and" normally works.

On the other hand, there does seem to be a nuance in the meaning of "try and kill mosquitos" that makes it not just a dialectical form of "try to kill mosquitos"; there's an implication of expecting success. One might also point out that "try" can be replaced with synonyms in "try to" ("attempt to kill mosquitos"), but not "try and" (*"attempt and kill mosquitos"). So this is a very particular idiom.


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OJFordlast Sunday at 3:12 PM

Ahh, got it, thanks - re-reading it makes more sense with the example of it being possible:

> Usually, coordinated verb phrases can be preceded by both:

> 9) Reality is Broken will both [stimulate your brain and stir your soul].

which would be a better example and clearer to me the first time if it didn't use two nouns ('stimulate and stir your soul').