- By Jim Evans
- Entertainment
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SMART TALK by Dr. Manda Rynne
BE SURE AND GIVE HIM MY BEST: Honest Al, of Johnson's Used Car's here in Unberbelly, Texas, loves to end conversations in this way. But then, he also says he'll try and get you the best deal - "Honest. Really. I ain't kidding!" He also wears those garish sport jackets.
At the Institute for the Linguistically Impaired, we researched the possibility of a link between poor taste in language and cheap looking taste in clothing and found none. Even Hemingway used try and. We think this use of and instead of to comes from our friends the Brits, who don't know the difference between that and which, either. Some of them even think the tilter at windmills was Don Quiksut.
We can do better. Be sure to speak English as if it were your first language, and try to sound smart and look literate. "Sure" and "try" always - no exceptions - imply another, following, verb. By themselves, they have little meaning and no clarity. Be sure to speak and try to sound smart are single tasks. Why try to make them sound like two?
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