In primary school we learned that prisoners were hanged by the neck until dead, and not hung by the neck until dead. Paintings, coats, and Christmas stockings are “hung”, not people. They are “hanged”. Is this correct? I hear news reporters say “hung” all the time. Never “hanged”.
hanged vs. hung
September 27th, 2005 by Steve
39 Responses to “hanged vs. hung”
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When hang means, as it generally does, “to suspend,” then hung is the correct past-tense and past participial form of the verb: “Yesterday, I hung a picture on the wall”; “I have hung many pictures on many walls.” When hang means “to put to death by hanging,” however, hanged is the correct past-tense and past participial form: “We hanged the horse-thieving varmint yesterday”; “We’ve hanged nigh unto forty horse thieves this year.” Given that hanging has become a fairly infrequent means to a fairly infrequent end, you might think that this is an unimportant distinction. But, because of a colloquial use of hung that we blush bright yellowish green to mention here, you can end up embarrassing yourself if you use hung as an adjective to describe a male historical figure executed by hanging. History records that John Billington was hanged at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1630; whether Mr. Billington was hung, history does not record.
You’re correct. The news reporters are not. It’s a shame that people on television news shows do not always use proper grammar. I think part of it is due to wanting to sound like you’re ‘of the people’ as opposed to what really happens: they become role models of a sort. "That can’t be right! Tom Brokaw didn’t say it that way, and he should know, right?"
So sad.
the reason reporters use the word "hung" instead of "hanged" is that reporters are peoud to be counted amongst the semi-educated yet feeble-minded masses. writing a story in a grammatically correct fashion would be as silly as writing a story that was factually correct! as recent years have shown us, many reporters just resort to stealing other people’s work and don’t write articles at all!
im hung like a horse
You can forget the vast majority of grammar "rules" that you learned in all your schooling. They were, for the most part, nonsense.
So too with these two words.
M-W:
usage For both transitive and intransitive senses 1b the past and past participle hung, as well as hanged, is standard. Hanged is most appropriate for official executions <he was to be hanged, cut down whilst still alive … and his bowels torn out — Louis Allen> but hung is also used <gave orders that she should be hung — Peter Quennell>. Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings <by morning I’ll be hung in effigy — Ronald Reagan>.
What about an animal? Suppose a cat gets caught up in some cord, hangs by his neck, and dies. Was he hanged or hung? He's not a person, but he's not inanimate either.
Tony, your entry, which is correct, is taken whole from Perfessor (that's how he spells it) Cumber's list of pet peeves about English usage. I commend the brief list to anyone interested in usage questions; it's an entertaining, commonsense guide (www.acebo.com/cumber.htm). I agree with all the writers who wonder about reporters' use of "hung" where "hanged" would be correct. Don't get me started on the other common grammatical errors in journalism. I have concluded that either that there are no editors anymore, or the editors are just as ignorant as the reporters.
I do believe it may be used either way (now due to my arguements with somone who may not wish their name let out). Anyway as I read this I may see that everyones findings are from old uses. I believe the correct usage of hanged has changed into hung. Thusly because the value of human life is mostly viewed lower than it should these days. Hung is correct in my belief but if I were correcting a paper I would not count hanged as wrong(anymore).
I'm not exactly a prescriptivist. After all, we haven't spoken Old or even Middle English for centuries now. But I do find it sad that we have come to accept virtually any ignorant, sloppy, lazy mangling of our language. I guess political correctness has made even the stupid a protected class that we can't possibly offend.
"hung" is used to refer to death by hanging and it has always been used to refer to death by hanging. Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage says this is not a mistake, and if you use it you will be stigmatized for doing something that is not wrong.
Actually, that's not exactly what Merriam-Webster says. DBP's posting from M-W is more complete and precise. Oh, and for what it's worth, The dictionary's quoting of Ronald Reagan is hardly an endorsement for proper grammar. If anything, it proves the opposite point.
I think it's amusing and ironic that that particular Reagan quote has made it into the dictionary. He has been publicly and frequently lambasted for that very quote, as one of many malapropisms for which he was famous. He was constantly ridiculed for his misuse of the English language.
Of course, he wasn't nearly as inarticulate as our current commander-in-chief
I welcome the gradual disappearance of "hanged". I came to this page because I heard reporters saying it on television, and the usage just sounded wrong to me.
For me there is no important distinction in the word. If someone is hung on a coat hook as a joke versus being hanged for murder, I would lose no meaning if the terms were switched. Context means everything.
The -ang verbs are pretty irregular already. Why have two forms when one will serve just fine?
I was referring to Merriam-Webster's Concise Dictionary of English Usage. DBP's quote is from Merriam-Webster's dictionary. 2 different publications.
Next time I wear a tux to a neck-tie party, I'll say the "guest of honor" would be hanged. If I wear khaki pants and a polo shirt, I'll say he'd be hung.
Some news agencies abide by a specific "style" (such as AP Style, or Chicago Press Style) whereby certain matters are addressed in grammar to distinguish one meaning from another. The reporters may simply be using a particular style, and quite actually saying it correctly according to the style. There is not a universally correct grammar, especially in regard to news reporting grammar style.
Were do you think 'hung drawn and quartered' came from?
Because they 'hung' people.
It has multiple meanings.
what is the proper way to say:
1) he hung himself or 2) he hanged himself
I understand that the word "hanged" is a proper verb for capital punishment, what about if it is self-inflicted?
Thanks for your answer, you will be settling a bet between me and my overeducated husband (who can't spell or write properly).
Alla, it doesn't matter if the hanging is self-inflicted. "He hanged himself" would still be correct.
by the way, who won the bet?
I appreciate the distinction between the two forms. They've been talked about as different verbs, but really I think they're basically the same thing (suspension of some kind). So I think it's neat that we have a way of using this verb for this specific context of capital punishment. On the other hand, the fortunate rarity of hangings these days naturally pushes the distinction into some obscurity. I have no problem with this either, but it's probably why news reporters may not always make it.
"hung" has used to refer to death by hanging since the 1600s. Many usage commentators recognize that this is a standard use, but some commentators, who apparently haven't done their research, persist in saying it's wrong.
In Old English they were 2 verbs:
hōn, past tense heng, past particle hangen "to hang"
hangian, past tense hangode "to be suspended"
"hangian" derives from the causative of "hōn" – that is, "to cause to be hanged". Other pairs like this include lie – lay and sit -set.
By the 14th century, the 2 verbs had collapsed into 1.
hm… for hōn read "hon".
John, when you say "…but some commentators, who apparently haven't done their research, persist in saying it's wrong…", who exactly are you referring to? Since your last two posts, in well over a year, no one has asserted that "hung" is wrong. Actually, in all of the above posts, only two commentators, the second and third, back in 2005, made such an assertion, and only once each. How exactly does that qualify as "persistence"?
Are you referring to my reply to alla arcuri? I never said that "hung" was wrong. I merely said that if a hanging is self-inflicted instead of capital punishment, then "hanged" is still appropriate. Just how much "research" is required? A simple check of one or a few dictionaries confirms what I said.
You have stated several times (I assume you're the same John as before) that "hung" is correct, but you have never claimed that "hanged" is incorrect, did you? Can I assume you don't have a problem with the word "hanged"? You're not saying "hanged" is wrong, are you?
Every source I have checked says that "hanged" is especially appropriate to describe death by hanging (and no, I did not just say that "hanged" is right and "hung" is wrong). I don't think you disagree with this either, do you? So, um, what's the problem?
Most people don't say they "hanged a picture", right?. And, I guess some newsreporters notwithstanding, most people still say "hanged by the neck until dead", right? And if both these statements are true, that still doesn't mean that "hung" is wrong in the same context, right?
Porsche,
Sorry… by commentators I meant usage commentators. People who write books about English usage. Some of them tell us that "hung" is wrong when referring to death by hanging. But if they looked at the actual usage, they would see that both "hung" and "hanged" have been used in this context.
Dear Porsche
Of course, i won the bet. In addition, I think our great language has evolved (or maybe "devolved" is a better term) to the point where if enough people are using the incorrect form -then is becomes the norm.
P.S. is devolved a real word? lol
thanks for your help
Alla
I believe they use "hanged" to make capital punishment seem dated and backward. i.e. not modern. both terms can be understood that is why there is a debate about it.
We were talking about this in English IV. My teacher said that "Only one thing is Hung, Everything else is Hanged…." You guess what is hung
thanks for the wonderful discussion, i love it and it helped me to prove myself that i have gone to my primary school and paying attention while teacher was teaching me …
My 6th grade English teacher told us one day, "MEAT is hung. PEOPLE are hanged." I got an immediate and lasting visual on that, and have never forgotten the rule. Thank you Mrs. Anderson!
Hanged may be correct but it sounds like an 1850’s prospector, Dag nab it.
I tend to agree with John’s “lay” vs “lie” analogy (transitive vs intransitive – “hanged” being the past participle when something/someone is “hanged” and “hung” referring to the past tense state of something/someone, um, dangling, if you will).
In German, for example, “haengen”- to hang something (on a wall, etc.) has the regular/weak past participle “gehaengt” (akin to “hanged”). “Haengen”, however, describing the state of dangling or at least being pinned to a verticle surface, features the irregular/strong past participle “gehangen”- “hung”.
If this pattern were followed in common usage, we would say such statements in English as “I hanged a poster up yesterday” & “The poster hung there for a day until it fell down.” But alas, in a language culture where laziness prevails, in which people “lay out in the sun” and someone has “set in a chair for three hours” and a person is asked to “leave the book lay there on the table”, such a distinction hardly seems reasonable/realistic.
I’ve always understood the difference between hanged & hung when it comes to people vs. inanimate objects, but what is the rule when talking about an animal that died by hanging? I always thought the rule was “hanged” for people, and “hung” for animals, but I feel like I may have been in error all these years.
Anyone have an answer?
Thanks!
Rara
hanged is used when talking about people being hanged (killed by hanging). in other cases, you use hung.
I’m hanged like a horse
I order that the previous commentator be hanged for being crass. Dick.Napoleon complex, anyone?
Personally, I think he should be hung.
which one’s correct?
“i will be hanged” or ” i will be hung”