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Joined: Jan 2001
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journeyman
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OP
journeyman
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 96 |
Here's one for all you word wizards. Perhaps I am wrong, but lately I have come across the word "hanged" in a sentence, when I am positive it should be "hung". Perhaps both are correct. For instance: "He hanged himself." "She had hanged herself." Please set my old mind straight! (These were in articles printed by major publishing companies, and not students.)
enthusiast
enthusiast
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
There has been a general rule that transitive verbs are regular and intransitive verbs irregular, at least among verbs that have been with the language since before the beginning. Verbs that came into the language since its importation to the British Isles have had a tendency to be regular regardless of their transitivity. Thus lie, as in lie down is irregular, lie, lay, lain and lay as in lay the book down is regular, lay, laid, laid. Hang retains this formalism only in the sense of hanging a person by the neck until dead. You will find hung used in this context but some will consider it incorrect. On the other hand, others will find hanged in this sense to be pretentious. Language usage is a slippery edged sword.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
Language usage is a slippery edged sword.
False bottom?
Sliding floor?
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Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 725 |
The rule I learned was:
You hung up your coat. They hanged the man.
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
a general rule that transitive verbs are regular and intransitive verbs irregular
Just to muddy the water, I spent a little time researching the history of this rule and the more I looked the more it seemed to evaporate into the mists of coincidence.
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 2,661 |
It sounds like you were hung out to dry, Abbott.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I remember noticing that judge pronouncing death penalty by hanging always used "hanged".
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Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 2,204 |
I'm very glad they didn't carry the sentence out, Bill - we would have lost a great deal if they had.  
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,439 |
Off on a tangent :
In the dear days (almost) beyond recall ... when writing the results of court cases in the 1970s/1980s our Editor-in-Chief insisted upon "He pleaded not guilty" even though we tended to say "He pled not guilty" ... now I see "pled" used all the time! Our Editor-in Chief insisted pleaded was correct and pled (in our news writing) was forbidden! Was he just a stickler or is there a rule about that?
Just askin'.
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Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Feb 2002
Posts: 833 |
"Pled" sounds funny to me - I think I'd use "pleaded."
Re: hanged/hung - The former is restricted (at least in Mary's World!) to people who have been executed by hanging, and the latter is for everything else. An artistic executioner might say, "I hung my art show in the gallery after I hanged Jack the Ripper this morning at dawn." Or sumpin like that.
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