And vs. to

[bodwen]

Ok, this has been bugging me for a while:

Are both of these sentences equal and valid?

Be sure to buy milk when you go to the store.
Be sure and buy milk when you go the store.

I've always thought of the and as being informal slang,more suited for dialogue than prose or business writing, but I've been seeing it crop up more and more...

[Kimmy]

I would say TO BUY is more correct (more correct, is THAT right?!?! haha). I found this on the web:

Simple forms Compound forms
     
Indicative   
     
Present
I buy
you buy
he/she/it buys
we buy
you buy
they buy

   Preterite

I bought
you bought
he/she/it bought
we bought
you bought
they bought
   
     
Infinitive
   
     
to buy
   
     
Imperative
   
     
buy
let's buy
buy
     
Participle
   
     
Present
buying
   Past
bought
In English, the conjugated forms are the same for the following persons: you, we and they.
Compound forms Simple forms
     Past participle    
     
having bought
   In English, the conjugated forms are the same for the following persons: you, we and they.
     
Indicative
   
     
Present continuous
I am buying
you are buying
he/she/it is buying
we are buying
you are buying
they are buying
   Present perfect
I have bought
you have bought
he/she/it has bought
we have bought
you have bought
they have bought
   Future
I will buy
you will buy
he/she/it will buy
we will buy
you will buy
they will buy
   Future perfect
I will have bought
you will have bought
he/she/it will have bought
we will have bought
you will have bought
they will have bought

Past continuous
I was buying
you were buying
he/she/it was buying
we were buying
you were buying
they were buying
   
Past perfect
I had bought
you had bought
he/she/it had bought
we had bought
you had bought
they had bought
   
Future continuous
I will be buying
you will be buying
he/she/it will be buying
we will be buying
you will be buying
they will be buying
   
Present perfect continuous
I have been buying
you have been buying
he/she/it has been buying
we have been buying
you have been buying
they have been buying

Past perfect continuous
I had been buying
you had been buying
he/she/it had been buying
we had been buying
you had been buying
they had been buying
   
Future perfect continuous
I will have been buying
you will have been buying
he/she/it will have been buying
we will have been buying
you will have been buying
they will have been buying

[DMcWild]

Wow Kimmy,  talk about a jaw      dropping shopping spree you just participated in. That's the Christmas spirit.
                                         

[Rain]

I've always thought of the and as being informal slang,more suited for dialogue than prose or business writing, but I've been seeing it crop up more and more...

Bodwen, more and more things are cropping up where they don't belong. I wish language didn't deteriorate so much, but it does. 
Another big one involves the word "try." "I'm going to try to jump..." v. "I'm going to try and jump..."

I'm going to try and jump?     I'm going to try what and jump? It only makes sense to say "I'm going to try to jump," but "and" slurs so much easier.

 

[Aiala]

The (American) English language is constantly being mangled beyond recognition:

"I hear your going on vacation."

I like Amy better then Pam."

"Look how it's eyes shine in the dark!"

And on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.   

~A~

[longknife]

Between the discussion forums and blogs I read daily, I cannot agree more about the deterioration of the English language!!! 
I think it's just a matter of laziness. It takes all of a second or two to use the net to spell or grammar check. Either that, or it's a matter of the horrid job teachers are doing in our broken education system. I remember how much I hated English in school with the rote and structured way of teaching it.
I was extremely fortunate to have attended the Defense Language Institute to learn German. In that six months, I learned more about English than in all the years before!!!

 

[Zooks]

I totally agree that the American/English language is deconstructing before our eyes.  It also irks me when I read: "I had a couple beers."  Instead of: "I had a couple OF beers."  Just a wee 2-letter word folks.  Laziness abounds.

Am halfway through a novel I got as a Christmas present and have noticed at least half a dozen errors.  Some grammar, some spelling, some just omitted words.  Who's giving the OK on galley proofs and editing these days? 

[JeanneG]

Oh man, I teach this stuff to college freshman. You would not believe the weird rules I've heard them claim they learned in school. Some classic examples:

How do you know where to put a comma? Just insert commas wherever you take a breath. My response: But what if I'm a deeps-sea diver who can hold her breath for four minutes? Does that mean I need fewer commas in the sentence? What if I have asthma? Do I need more commas?

It's always better to write really long sentences. My response: Long sentences that do not make sense are not better. Then I ask them to tell me what the long, confusing sentence means. Most of the time, they don't know.

You can never express your opinion in an essay. My response: You can't express your opinion in an opinion/position essay? That's why they're called "opinion" essays.

You must have xxx number of points in every paragraph or xxx number of points in every sentence. My response: Why?

You can never use the personal pronoun in an essay. My response: The personal essay is your story, your voice. The personal pronoun "I" is expected and appropriate.

One of the most difficult tasks I have had with young writers is to move them away from absolutes (you must, you can't, etc.) to thinking critically about what they want to say and how to say it most effectively. They need to master the rules of syntax, grammar, and spelling, but they also need to learn to write beyond the rigid five-paragraph essay and develop their ideas and research.

JeanneG

[bodwen]

Thank you, everyone.  Karma for you all.  So there's no "and-infinitive"?  That's what I thought, but I worried it might be another hole in my education.

My own mangling of the english language tend to  be more sutble: like writing on stationary instead of stationery, or spelling strait-laced as straight-laced  (I thought it meant your corset laces were straight because... oh nevermind.)

[AnyaHarker]

The (American) English language is constantly being mangled beyond recognition:

"I hear your going on vacation."

I like Amy better then Pam."

"Look how it's eyes shine in the dark!"

And on, and on, and on, ad infinitum.   

~A~

My response whenever friends use the above is quite passive aggressive -- I use the proper form they should have used in my response in all capital letters... sometimes in bold if I can manage it.

I don't know which bothers me more: it's/its or their/they're when used incorrectly. Argh. I mean, I know my own grammar is lacking in some places simply because my teachers didn't do much by way of grammar growing up. But at the same time, I do my best not to totally screw up either. ;^) It is funny though how our language has degenerated so much to the point that the correct grammar actually sounds incorrect.

 

[bodwen]

Don't forget loser vs. looser.  As in the oh-so-compelling "your a looser!"

And the improper whom, as in "Whom, may I ask, is calling?"

[Aiala]

Who's giving the OK on galley proofs and editing these days? 

The same people who can't spell the difference between "there","their", and "they're". 

~A~

[AnyaHarker]

Who's giving the OK on galley proofs and editing these days? 

The same people who can't spell the difference between "there","their", and "they're". 

~A~

*gasp* you mean... there's a difference? /sarcasm

I almost did write "theirs a difference"?, but I couldn't bring myself to say it. Even in jest it hurts too much to type. *shudder*