The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1914-12-25
ENGLISH UNCLAIMED.
More Illustrations OF . sound Old Eng
fish ldlOtu.

To THE EDITOR or THE SUN-SW: OF
course II II pleases the amiabls Mr..
Thomas y Durell 10 be too utterly too
too In his particular preference for
ITO" there is little to be gained by point
ing out that "and" In such expressions
az "try and do" go and bring u an old
established English idiom. When an lido
matte phrase Is accepted as standard It Ia
enshrined In the dictionaries, and if the
amkble Mr. Durell will consult the New
Standard Dictionary. the New English
Dictionary. In course OF publication by
the oxford University Press, England,
and William T. 1Iarris's New Interna-
tional Dictionary he will find the idiom
recorded there. If he cares to 90 further
and consult DR. James G. Fernald's Con
nectives of English Speech." pages zoe
and 207, he will learn something Of this
eminent grammarians point of View DR..
Fernald says of and" purposive and
resultant:
In the union OF two verbs. especially after
go" come" send" and try" as the
result or fulalment (of an action implied
In the preceding VERDI. as try and hnd IT..
go and get IT,:
Mays in all italian books;
She has old and modern hooks,
And Will rise and dress your rooms
With drapery thick with blooms
Hunt May and the Poets")
Many grammarians have been In error In
defining land" In this usage as equivalent
to TO-" and hence condemning II as super
nuous or incorrect. The usage Is sustained
by the very highest authority. and. when
we come to balance tho expressions. Is sus-
tained also by the logic OF linguistic
thought. II We change try and fnd H.
into TRY TO find Il" there IL an instant
loss OF force. WHY Because TRY
to find 81 refers only to a pur-
pose which IL antecedent to the trying, and
which may never be fulfilled. while TRY
and find IT, contemplate the finding a. the
sure result OF the trying. which may there
fore he added TO 1t as an accomplished fact,
Instead OF being equivalent TO an Infinite
the and" with It's following verb. IL more
nearly equal TO future tense TRY and
you wlD find H." Hence this idiom has
conciusiveness to be attained by no other
form OF expression.
Still l have a particular reverence for
Bible English. Perhaps this may stamp
me az old fashioned, but Il may serve
some purpose 10 point out that the King
James version OF the Bible was translated
by forty-seven eminent scholars. and that
the different books were not all translated
by the same men. Yet We find In John
T.. SO: They said unto Him, Rabbi.
where dwellest Thou? lie said
unto them, Go and see" Mark vi, 3S
lie SATIN unto tnem now many 4oANGS
have ye1 Go and see" In Matthew
xi.. 4: Go and show John again those
things which We do hear and see"
Among the men WHO translated the
Gospels. the Acts and Revelation were
the Archbishop Of Canterbury. the Bishop
Of Winchester. the Dean OF Windsor. the
Warden OF Merton College. oxford the
| egius professor OF Greek at oxford. the
regius PROFESSOR of Greek at Winchester
College and the warden OF that institu-
ton 1t is inconceivable that all these
men should perpetrate the same error
as Mr.. Durell calls 1t. M the same time
IN the different books in which the idiom
is used. The fact remains that speech
came first and the grammarian after. and
| he has been after Il ever since. When the
| grammarian has an aversion to an lido
matte form. as many have to the much
| abused split infntive. he Invariably en-
halms il and under some awe inspiring
! Inc. TiIt.oa. lays !: 20 rec. i: h!s grammar
| hoping that there 1t may forever after
rest in peace" DR. SYSTAX
New YORK. December "a.