# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/21 "2013-02-28T23:25:02Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > 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. First, do you mean “subject” or “object”? Wouldn’t the subject be who’s doing the hanging? Second, I think there is a difference in meaning. If you’re hanging an outlaw vs. hanging a set of drapes, you’re not performing the exact same action but only on different objects; you’re performing two essentially different actions. One’s an act of execution, the other of decoration. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/22 "2013-02-28T23:34:10Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I have a big problem with “they defy length”. What the hell would that mean if it was English? I took it to mean “immeasurable.” Which is not to say that I think it’s a particularly intelligent phrasing. But I feel like I get what they were going for. ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/23 "2013-03-01T00:24:57Z")
Advertising is a whole maelstrom of linguistic nonsense. > [@Absolute](#): > > 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. lay/laid, perhaps? I never quite could grok that one. Mine showed up in my daughter’s \*homework \*tonight: “How do the different settings in the Cinderella stories effect the story?” :mad:stabstabstabstab:mad: ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/24 "2013-03-01T00:37:50Z")
> [@WhyNot](#): > > lay/laid, perhaps? I never quite could grok that one. “Lay” and “laid” aren’t past tenses of the _same_ verb. “Lay” is the past tense of “lie” (the intransitive verb meaning to rest, recline, or remain), while “laid” is the past tense of “lay” (the transitive verb meaning “to set or place (something).” To add to the confusion, many people use the latter verb when the former is grammatically appropriate (as in “I’m going to lay [sic] down for a while”). “Lay” and “lied” are both past tenses of “to lie,” but I think those "lie"s count as different words. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/25 "2013-03-01T00:54:39Z")
“Aren’t I?” It’s grammatically correct. It’s just. . . not _right_. But it’s all we have. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/26 "2013-03-01T01:15:55Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > First, do you mean “subject” or “object”? Wouldn’t the subject be who’s doing the hanging? I don’t think so. The subject of a verb in the passive voice is that who has it done **to**. “The criminal was hung. Who did the hanging? The executioner hung him.” All the underlined words are subjects. ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/27 "2013-03-01T01:16:39Z")
Using first with no second. He just hit his first home run of the season. Until he hits another this season it is his only home run of the season. incorrect comparisons. Our new product is better than ever. No it is better than ever before, now is part of ever so it can’t be better than it is. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/28 "2013-03-01T01:27:11Z")
My pet peeve is people who don’t understand that language is idiomatic, not generated by logic gates. “I couldn’t care less,” “better than ever,” “literally” meant as “really,” and so on are totally fine usages, if you’re a human being and not an android. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/29 "2013-03-01T01:41:05Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > Using first with no second. He just hit his first home run of the season. Until he hits another this season it is his only home run of the season. Really? You can have a “first” in a series of one. It also happens to be the last. And the only. There is nothing wrong with “first” in this usage. Do you also complain about somebody celebrating their “first wedding” anniversary. What if they get divorced in a month? ---
**Author:** ![rsat3acr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/a3d4f5/32.png) [@rsat3acr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rsat3acr)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/30 "2013-03-01T01:44:53Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Really? You can have a “first” in a series of one. It also happens to be the last. And the only. > > There is nothing wrong with “first” in this usage. Do you also complain about somebody celebrating their “first wedding” anniversary. What if they get divorced in a month? I stand corrected, thanks. Still sounds wrong to me however. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/31 "2013-03-01T01:45:18Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > First, do you mean “subject” or “object”? Wouldn’t the subject be who’s doing the hanging? > > Second, I think there is a difference in meaning. If you’re hanging an outlaw vs. hanging a set of drapes, you’re not performing the exact same action but only on different objects; you’re performing two essentially different actions. One’s an act of execution, the other of decoration. No, it is the subject of a passive mode verb, but still the subject. Between you and I, my pet peeve is people who don’t know when to use “me” (and other oblique pronouns). I read somewhere that even Shakespeare did this on occasion. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/32 "2013-03-01T01:51:05Z")
> [@rsat3acr](#): > > I stand corrected, thanks. Still sounds wrong to me however. I mean, yeah, I don’t want to refer to my wife as my “first wife.” 🙂 But it’s not technically incorrect. “First homerun of the season,” though, doesn’t set off any bells for me. ETA: And my original post should have read “first wedding anniversary,” not “first wedding” anniversary. ---
**Author:** ![InternetLegend](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/internetlegend/32/13154_2.png) [@InternetLegend](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/InternetLegend)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/33 "2013-03-01T02:10:12Z")
The “effect/affect” thing gets to me, as does the rampant confusion between “discreet” and “discrete”. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/34 "2013-03-01T05:00:25Z")
> [@Absolute](#): > > 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. (Setting aside the quibble over whether it’s the subject or the object that matters…) For a long time I thought the same question about “found” and “founded”, as in: “The explorer found a continent and then he founded a city there.” I only figured this one out recently, like within the past year. > [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](#): > > 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” A phrase like “my friends and I/me” might be correct with either “I” or “me” depending on where it’s used in a sentence: – My friends and I went to a movie. – Sam met my friends and me there. If it’s just a picture title, like “My Sister and I”, I don’t know why either “I” or “me” would be better, since it’s just a phrase, not a whole sentence. So it’s not truly either a subject nor an object. Similarly, the much-maligned phrase “Us Tareyton smokers” might actually be right, depending on how it’s used, yet a generation of TV viewers got it beaten (beated?) into our heads that we should NEVER use “us” in a phrase like this. Wrong: “Us Tareyton smokers would rather fight than switch.” (Should be “We Tareyton smokers…”) Right: “Please sell a pack of Tareytons to us Tareyton smokers.” > [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](#): > > “Aren’t I?” It’s grammatically correct. It’s just. . . not _right_. But it’s all we have. Not really. “Aren’t” is a contraction of “Are not”. “Aren’t I” would mean, then, “Are not I” ( == Are I not ), which clearly should be “Am I not”. But we don’t have a good contraction for “am not” (Amn’t I?), so we colloquially say “Aren’t I”, but that really ain’t cromulent. > [@pulykamell](#): > > There is nothing wrong with “first” in this usage. Do you also complain about somebody celebrating their “first wedding” anniversary. What if they get divorced in a month? [ul][li] That’s right.[/li][li] Hi, Opal.[/li][li] Hi, Opal.[/ul][/li] > [@InternetLegend](#): > > The “effect/affect” thing gets to me, as does the rampant confusion between “discreet” and “discrete”. My area of confusion: Is there a difference between “complete” and “compleat”? Is one of these non-cromulent? ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/35 "2013-03-01T05:14:01Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > My pet peeve is people who don’t understand that language is idiomatic, not generated by logic gates. “I couldn’t care less,” … argh, “I could care less” needs to die in a fire. it does not reflect well on the language to have both the positive and negative of the same construction of a phrase to mean the same thing! ---
**Author:** ![Nzinga\_Seated](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5ac83/32.png) [@Nzinga\_Seated](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nzinga_Seated)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/36 "2013-03-01T05:17:31Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > “Lay” and “laid” aren’t past tenses of the _same_ verb. “Lay” is the past tense of “lie” (the intransitive verb meaning to rest, recline, or remain), while “laid” is the past tense of “lay” (the transitive verb meaning “to set or place (something).” To add to the confusion, many people use the latter verb when the former is grammatically appropriate (as in “I’m going to lay [sic] down for a while”). > > “Lay” and “lied” are both past tenses of “to lie,” but I think those "lie"s count as different words. Can I say, “I’m going to lay my body down?” I hope so, because that is a very bluesy thing to say, and I do like to be bluesy sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/37 "2013-03-01T05:20:35Z")
John Wing said: “If you’re dangling at the end of a rope, you’re hanged, and if you have a large organ… you work in a church.” 🙂 ---
**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:** [March 1, 2013, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/38 "2013-03-01T05:27:52Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > argh, “I could care less” needs to die in a fire. it does not reflect well on the language to have both the positive and negative of the same construction of a phrase to mean the same thing! I could give a damn but I couldn’t give a damn. You’re really going to flip when you learn about contranyms. My favorite is with. Britain fought with Germany in World War II and Britain fought with America in World War II mean totally different things. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/39 "2013-03-01T05:39:56Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > argh, “I could care less” needs to die in a fire. it does not reflect well on the language to have both the positive and negative of the same construction of a phrase to mean the same thing! Nah…it’s idiomatic. I like it, and vote to keep it. I’m sure I’ll be outvoted on this Board, but, thankfully, this Board doesn’t make language decisions. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/40 "2013-03-01T05:42:32Z")
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