Try, try again

Dear Readers,
   Here is a little test for you.  Pick the correct answer.
      A.  I am going to try and call you tonight.
      B.  I am going to try to call you tonight.
      C.  Both A and B

  The correct answer is C.  According to Strunk and White's Elements of Style, "try takes the infinitive:  'try to mend it,' not 'try and mend it.'  Students of the language will argue that try and has won through and become idiom.  Indeed it has, and it is relaxed and acceptable.  But try to is precise, and when you are writing formal prose, try and write try to."
   I have been noticing this trend for a while.  In the French language, the verb try must be followed by the infinitive form of the verb.  [The infinitive is the form of the verb introduced by the word "to," not having a subject used with it.  Examples:  to eat, to sleep, to dream]  Let's compare this verb to the verb "hope."  We might say, "I hope and pray that you get better."  Since hope and pray in this sentence reflect simultaneous actions, the word in between, and, is correct.  But when we say,"I am  going to try and call you," they are not simultaneous.  The second action (call) is dependent on the first action (try), which is why it should read, "I will try to call you."  Alas, the word "and" has supplanted the word "to" in the English language, much to my chagrin.  Here are examples of both ways.

TRY AND...
Example:  In the novel The Oath by John Lescroart, defense attorney Dismas Hardy says to his client, "I  want you to try and remember if you met someone in your building."

Example:  Sue Monk Kidd, in her novel The Invention of Wings, writes about abolitionist and women's rights crusader Sarah Grimke who takes a stand by sitting in church with the Negro women.  Her friend explains to her, "Try and understand, Sarah, we looked the other way while you sat on the Negro pew."

Example: When I read Unintended Consequences by Stuart Woods, I noticed this:  "Try and keep Marcel alive until then."

Example:  In The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt,  her young protagonist says , "I began to walk east again, pausing every now and then to try and hail a cab."

Example:  "The Next Three Days" (movie released in 2010) shows a scene where a man and his young son are at the park and are invited to a little girl's birthday party.  The father says to the girl's mother, "Thank you very much for the invitation.  We'll try and make it."

Example:  Steve Coogan, in the film "The Trip," has asked his friend Rob Brydon to accompany him on a working trip to the north of England.  When they arrive at their first hotel and there is only one room booked, Steve calls his assistant "to try and sort this out."

Example:  On an episode of "Downton Abbey," Lord Merton is having tea with the Dowager Countess and Isobel Crawley.  Mr. Merton commends Isobel's late husband as being a nobleman and a doctor and laments that his own father would not have approved.  Isobel says, "I must try and find an example to rebut that."  *Even the stuffy English back in the 1920's said it wrong.  Or rather the writers of 2014 did.

TRY TO ...
Example:  C.J. Box, in his novel Winter Kill, writes, "Grabbing his coat from the rack in the mud room, he went outside into the dark to try to clear his mind."

Example:  In a People magazine article on Diem Brown (MTV reality star who recently passed away from cancer), her close friend Julie recalls a time right before her death: "We tried to laugh and tell stories..."

Example:  On TV's "Red Band Society," a small group of teens lives at the hospital where they are being treated.  A new patient arrives and leads them on a mysterious outing.  Going through a doorway at the hospital, he whispers, "Try to stay quiet."

Example:  Seattle weather girl Sylvia Miller, in the titular movie "Weather Girl," has an on-air breakdown.  She starts ranting, "Day after day as I stood in front of this stupid map repeatedly trying to find new adjectives to describe the word rain,..."

Example:  In the 2004 film "The Terminal," Viktor Navorski is stuck in the JFK airport until his visa clears.  While there, he befriends a young food service worker who is attracted to a pretty immigration officer.  He enlists Viktor's help to get to know her better.  After Viktor talks to her, the young man says, "Try to repeat exactly what she said."

  Well, Readers, I have tried to give examples of both ways of using this expression.  I implore you to try to use it correctly.