Try and stop me

[StoopitAutocarrot]

I would say that try is always followed by an infinitive, but “ try and stop me” has become so common I wonder is it now acceptable.

I ask because I flinched when I a saw a hashtag being used #tryandstopme, by none other than our local Department for Education!

I guarantee you I see the very, very worst of spelling and grammar in my job (adults not children) and the only way I can cope with it is to ignore it and silently seethe at the desecration of the English language. Unlike others, I don't blame autocorrect. I use a mobile phone with autocorrect and don't make those kinds of awful and ugly errors.

I could go on with examples but I will only get flamed by people who think it is OK to spell like that and there is always an excuse for the poor spellers and spelling.

Did you mean to put an extra A in your post? That will get you in trouble on here with a post like yours despite it being an obvious typo.

I use it all the time. I thought it had become common usage and was accepted?

Check out www.lexico.com/definition/try - it has an interesting article about try to/try and.

Language is changing and moving on all the time. Using an infinite with 'try' is not a hill to die on, IME. There are much worse things!!

"just you try and stop me" was common vernacular where I grew up in the 1960s. Sometimes a phrase defies the laws of grammar but nevertheless has legitimate usage because of its established meaning.

Thanks for the responses.

I agree that “ try to stop me” sounds clumsy, but almost every other part of the verb demands a “to”

He tried to do his best
I’m trying not to make any spelling errors
You should try to give thoughtful answers

Actually that negative one is interesting- “ try and not do your best” or even “try not and do your best” are clunky.

Try not to stop me
Try not and stop me
Try and not stop me

The negative would be "don't try and stop me!" which I think sounds fine - it's a breezy colloquial way to speak.

"try to stop me" might have a cool logic about it, but I don't see why "try and ... " is a problem as a set idiom - it's not recent and it's very common.

In my head I see/hear it as 'Try, and stop me.'

I know this hasn't added anything intelligent to the discussion. I'll get my coat.