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Carpal Tunnel
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>It's the inconsistency...
just so.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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If the strict application of logic dictated our speech we would never utter another word and peace would reign upon this world.
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Carpal Tunnel
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If the strict application of logic dictated our speech we would never utter another word and peace would reign upon this world.so speech is the root of all evil, eh?  out here in New England, the one that gets to me is: on accident. as in: "oops, that happened on accident", rather than by accident. it corresponds with on purpose, but just doesn't work for me.
formerly known as etaoin...
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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re:If the strict application of logic dictated our speech we would never utter another word and peace would reign upon this world.
Ah, faldage, not a fool, but a philosopher! you must read James Stephen's A Crock of Gold --one of the philosopher's comes to the very same conclusion! (well at least when it comes to speaking to his wife and child, who is sure are total devoid of all logic!
Stephens was a contemporary and friend of Joyce, his poetry is more available than his fiction, and his one of his short storiess was used in Soibhan McKenna's one woman productions, Here are Ladies-- a show about great irish woman of fame and fiction. the title Here are Ladies is from one of Stephens short stories.
he was a popular writer in still in the 1950's, and toured and lectured in US.
here are ladies is about the use of the word lady-- and how its use in US elevated a poor char woman to a cleaning lady, and with the word lady, she found dignity. (stephens was a great fan of US english!)
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Carpal Tunnel
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not a fool, but a philosopher!
There's a difference?
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old hand
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old hand
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Semantically the point is in the trying. As in... All we could do is try, and see if someone would come and explain. (omit comma) And it is temporal, as in... We all tried (time one) and (time two) then saw (for example) that milo was right.Sometimes I question the use of "try to" when "try and" would do quite well thank you. 
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Carpal Tunnel
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All we could do is try, and see if someone would come and explain. (omit comma)
ewww. omitting the comma would just be wrong. unless you place then after the and. it's a totally different sentence.
and for your second example: why would you ever use to in that situation?
formerly known as etaoin...
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old hand
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old hand
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All we could do is try, and see if someone would come and explain. (omit comma)
...omitting the comma would just be wrong. unless you place then after the and. it's a totally different sentence.
Yes!
Explain the totally different meaning between the two.
See. "try and see" means the same as "try to see" but rolls smother off the tongue.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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"try and see" means the same as "try to see" but rolls smother off the tongue
You did mean "smoothlier," of course, the adverb rather than the adjective.
Too bad the "correct" constructions are sometimes so awkward as to be unacceptable !
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Carpal Tunnel
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RE:All we could do is try,
or we could remember the immortal words of Yoda, There is no try. There is do or not do.
we tried, and succedded, or tried and failed, and tried again. (or tried to and succedded, or tried to and failed.)
to try is from *tritate, to cull out, to grind, a PP of terere, to rub,thresh grain. See TRITE
First listed defination, to seperate, to set apart, 2) to melt or render (fat) to get to out(the oil) or ore--and so on to 7)to subject to severe test or strain or 8) to test the operation or effect of..or even 9) to attempt to find out ofr determine by experiment or effort.
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