from the pet peeve files

I don't know why this drives me nuts as much as it does, especially since I subscribe to the belief that pragmatics, usage, and understandability are more appropriate ways to judge language than by rigid, formalized rules. But, I hate it when someone writes (it bothers me more on page/screen than in speech) that he or she is going "to try and do something." The conjunction is unwarranted and nonsensical. Rather, people are going "to try to do something."