# A grammar pet peeve: Hanged vs. Hung **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [February 28, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669 "2013-02-28T21:33:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Groucho\_Twain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Groucho\_Twain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Groucho_Twain)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/1 "2013-02-28T21:33:24Z")
This has been popping up in popular media (I tend toward the dark and macabre, like _The Walking Dead_, etc.: (paraphrasing) “We executed the prisoner last night. He was hung at 12 midnight.” I was taught that people are _hanged_ and objects are _hung_, as in, “The well-hung prisoner was hanged at midnight.” So, what’s your grammar pet peeve? ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/2 "2013-02-28T21:51:49Z")
That one bugs me, too. I get irritated with people who don’t understand how to use the reflexive pronoun “myself.” It seems as though the pronoun “me” is out of vogue or seen as uncouth or something, which also leads to such constructions as “between you and I.” ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/3 "2013-02-28T21:52:44Z")
I made three phone calls this morning, and filled out a web form, requesting to get some pictures hung in my office. That was cromulent, right? ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/4 "2013-02-28T21:52:58Z")
People who don’t close their parentheses. Yes, I know it’s not actually a grammar peeve. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/5 "2013-02-28T21:57:10Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > People who don’t close their parentheses. Or quotes. Or don’t do nested quotes correctly. "You know what she said to me? She said "That dude said “Get bent, bitch.” ---
**Author:** ![standingwave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de0a6/32.png) [@standingwave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/standingwave)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/6 "2013-02-28T22:13:08Z")
The word “it’s” is the contraction for “it is” and not to be confused with “its”, which forms the possessive noun. _It’s a wise dog that scratches its own fleas._ I can forgive it on message boards and even the occasional email but I’m beginning to see this slipping into once respected publications and it’s driving me nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Groucho\_Twain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Groucho\_Twain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Groucho_Twain)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/7 "2013-02-28T22:27:59Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > I made three phone calls this morning, and filled out a web form, requesting to get some pictures hung in my office. > > That was cromulent, right? Usage cromulent, level of bureaucracy quite incromulent. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/8 "2013-02-28T22:28:38Z")
I don’t mind ‘hung’ if it’s a semi-literate outlaw character in a western saying it. My pet language peeve at the moment is: advertising slogans that don’t even parse. For example: Rimmel (London cosmetics maker) has a mascara product, the slogan for which is: “Lash Accelerator - Endless Lashes so limitless, they defy length” I don’t mind them abusing the terms ‘endless’ and ‘limitless’ as an exaggeration for ‘quite long’ I have a problem with ‘so limitless’. To my mind, there aren’t degress of limitless-ness. I have a big problem with “they defy length”. What the hell would that mean if it was English? ---
**Author:** ![Groucho\_Twain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Groucho\_Twain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Groucho_Twain)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/9 "2013-02-28T22:30:21Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > People who don’t close their parentheses. > > Yes, I know it’s not actually a grammar peeve. (I’m keeping my eye on you. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/10 "2013-02-28T22:36:00Z")
\ ***Charlie:** They said you was hung. **Bart:** And they was right. \* Mel Brooks knows grammar. ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/11 "2013-02-28T22:36:33Z")
Stop that. ---
**Author:** ![conway](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ec9cab/32.png) [@conway](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/conway)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/12 "2013-02-28T22:40:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I have a big problem with “they defy length”. What the hell would that mean if it was English? Length is all like, what up you better stop and the lashes are like hell no bitch. ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/13 "2013-02-28T22:40:24Z")
I lean prescriptivist in most other grammar issues, but I despise the word “hanged”. It is the only past tense in the English language that is subject-specific, and there is no good reason why it should be so. It is a completely useless, arbitrary and pointless rule. What other verb has a different past tense depending on the subject? None that I’m aware of. It’s not as if there is any subtle difference in meaning or possibility of confusion. The distinction serves absolutely no purpose whatsoever. As far as I’m concerned, all it is useful for is allowing certain people to obnoxiously correct others whenever the opportunity arises. “No, he wasn’t hung, he was haaannnnggedd…”, usually said in a particularly pathetic and whiny tone of voice. ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/14 "2013-02-28T22:47:47Z")
> [@freckafree](#): > > That one bugs me, too. > > I get irritated with people who don’t understand how to use the reflexive pronoun “myself.” It seems as though the pronoun “me” is out of vogue or seen as uncouth or something, which also leads to such constructions as “between you and I.” I’ve noticed this is extremely common on dating websites. More often than not, the girl’s picture will be titled “My Sister and I” or “My Friends and I”, instead of “…and me” ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/15 "2013-02-28T22:53:22Z")
As far as “hanged” goes, does it only apply if it was a successful hanging? Can I correctly say, “He was hanged, but the rope broke and he survived?” Also, what if you’re not referring to the execution, but just literally the hanging itself? eg. “He was hung by his neck on a coiled rope and he died as a result.” ---
**Author:** ![Absolute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b2d939/32.png) [@Absolute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Absolute)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/16 "2013-02-28T22:55:30Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > It is a completely useless, arbitrary and pointless rule. Actually, it is not even a rule. “Rule” implies some broader applicability. It is just an exception that exists for that one particular usage of that one particular word, for no purpose whatsoever. > [@](#): > > I get irritated with people who don’t understand how to use the reflexive pronoun “myself.” It seems as though the pronoun “me” is out of vogue or seen as uncouth or something, which also leads to such constructions as “between you and I.” It’s because someone once corrected them for saying “My sister and me went to the store”, and now they have overcompensated by never saying the word “me” in any context. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/17 "2013-02-28T23:14:08Z")
Hung is equally correct. > [@](#): > > **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 \ but hung is also used \. Hung is more appropriate for less formal hangings \. ---
**Author:** ![Groucho\_Twain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7993a0/32.png) [@Groucho\_Twain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Groucho_Twain)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/18 "2013-02-28T23:20:20Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > Hung is equally correct. Well, I’ll be danged! Or…dung! Or both! ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/19 "2013-02-28T23:21:26Z")
They said you was dung. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/20 "2013-02-28T23:22:17Z")
I swear I learned hanged and hung work like rang and rung. Examples: He rang the bells, and he had rung them earlier. He hanged the new picture where the old one was hung before. Maybe I just imagined that I learned that back in school. In my opinion, it should work that way and I don’t see any reason why it shouldn’t. 😛 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669.md?page=2)