456. Occasionally there is found the expression try and instead of the better authorized try to; as,—
We will try and avoid personalities altogether.—Thackeray.
Did any of you ever try and read "Blackmore's Poems"?—Id.
Try and avoid the pronoun.—Bain.
We will try and get a clearer notion of them.—Ruskin.
But what.
457. Instead of the subordinate conjunction that, but, or but that, or the negative relative but, we sometimes find the bulky and needless but what. Now, it is possible to use but what when what is a relative pronoun, as, "He never had any money but what he absolutely needed;" but in the following sentences what usurps the place of a conjunction.
Exercise.
In the following sentences, substitute that, but, or but that for the words but what:—
1. The doctor used to say 'twas her young heart, and I don't know but what he was right.—S. O. Jewett.