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dataflowlast Monday at 12:22 PM2 repliesview on HN

Hang on. Isn't "try and" just completely different from "try to"?

"Can I leave work early?" "Try and see."

This is at worst a threat, and at best telling the other person to just do it and ask for forgiveness later afterward than for permission beforehand.

"Can I leave work early?" "Try to see."

This is telling the person to go research the answer to figure it out properly. And it feels less natural to say it too.

How can these be interchangeable in meaning? If anything they feel closer to being opposite in meaning here.


Replies

nyeahlast Monday at 12:34 PM

Sure, but that's not the same use of the phrase. To me, "try and get some of those new fries" means more or less the same as "try to get some of those new fries".

Maybe "try and see" is an exception to "try and ___".

koakuma-chanlast Monday at 12:33 PM

I think your example shows [try] and [see], where as this article is about [try and] see.