# 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:** 9
**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 7, 2013, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/161 "2013-03-07T20:30:23Z")
> [@Inner\_Stickler](#): > > No, I get nouns as adjectives. It’s the discord between woman/male. If a paper on Elizabeth Blackwell the woman doctor will also reference men doctors then we’re cool. Ah, I see what you’re saying, and I think you’re right: while “man” is sometimes used as an adjective (man cave, it’s a man thing, Manboobs), I can’t think of any cases in which it’s used as an adjective in front of a job. Even if you were appropriately discussing the sex of a worker, you’d use “male.” I’m not the only man teacher in third grade, I’m the only male teacher. Whereas someone might say that Dr. Jones is the only woman doctor in the trauma unit. It is a weird discord. Wonder why it’s there? ---
**Author:** ![BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bcef8e/32.png) [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/162 "2013-03-07T21:17:03Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > while “man” is sometimes used as an adjective (man cave, it’s a man thing, Manboobs), I can’t think of any cases in which it’s used as an adjective in front of a job. Man whore? Although that usually refers to promiscuity rather than the actual job, I suppose. ---
**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 7, 2013, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/163 "2013-03-07T21:24:04Z")
> [@BellRungBookShut-CandleSnuffed](#): > > Man whore? Although that usually refers to promiscuity rather than the actual job, I suppose. I think I’m going to start calling women who are promiscuous “woman whores.” ---
**Author:** ![A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a87d85/32.png) [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_Dodgy_Dude)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/164 "2013-03-07T21:26:09Z")
One that bothers me is using the term “light-year” to describe a period of time. I just heard it again the other night … on _The Science Channel_ of all places! ---
**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 7, 2013, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/165 "2013-03-07T21:38:04Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > One that bothers me is using the term “light-year” to describe a period of time. > > I just heard it again the other night … on _The Science Channel_ of all places! Reminds me of the old riddle: which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks? In a similar vein, which is longer, a human year or a light year? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2013, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/166 "2013-03-07T21:39:52Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > In a similar vein, which is longer, a human year or a light year? A cigar. ---
**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 7, 2013, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/167 "2013-03-07T21:40:39Z")
> [@A\_Dodgy\_Dude](#): > > One that bothers me is using the term “light-year” to describe a period of time. > > I just heard it again the other night … on _The Science Channel_ of all places! That’s an interesting one. I don’t think I’ve ever heard light-year to mean time, even though it seems to me to be a likely candidate for misuse. The closest I’ve heard was referring to something as “light years ahead of its time,” but I’ve heard constructions like “miles ahead of its time,” so it’s not necessary–to me–to have a temporal unit of measure there. ---
**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 7, 2013, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/168 "2013-03-07T21:58:36Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > That’s an interesting one. I don’t think I’ve ever heard light-year to mean time, even though it seems to me to be a likely candidate for misuse. . . . I have. It was in an old “Space Ghost” comic book. The [enemy, the likes of which I don’t recall] was sent into deep space, where it would remain for “thousands of light-years” or something like that. This was in the early 70s, and the comic book was several years old. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/169 "2013-03-08T00:38:41Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > Reminds me of the old riddle: which weighs more, a pound of feathers or a pound of bricks? Well, I do know that a pound of feathers would be about 17% heavier if the bricks were made of gold. ---
**Author:** ![Leaper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/4bbf92/32.png) [@Leaper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaper)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/170 "2013-03-08T00:59:43Z")
I hate that the word “blonde” can (apparently) only properly apply to women. It’s silly and stupid and there’s no reason for it. ---
**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 8, 2013, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/171 "2013-03-08T02:12:35Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > I hate that the word “blonde” can (apparently) only properly apply to women. It’s silly and stupid and there’s no reason for it. Yeah, I don’t think the “blonde” vs “blond” distinction is really followed rigorously in English…is it? I mean, I know that, technically, a “blond” should be a male, and a “blonde” should be female. My AP Stylebook says “blond” for all adjectival uses, and the blond/blonde distinction for male/female nouns usages. It seems a bit odd to me to maintain the distinction in the noun form, but, well, as I said before, English doesn’t have to make sense. ---
**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 8, 2013, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/172 "2013-03-08T03:36:54Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Yeah, I don’t think the “blonde” vs “blond” distinction is really followed rigorously in English…is it? I mean, I know that, technically, a “blond” should be a male, and a “blonde” should be female. This actually gets at one of my real pet peeves: the idea that if we pirate a word from another language, we steal its grammar as well. There’s no reason that “blond” should follow French gender rules, or that “octopus” should follow Greek pluralization rules, and so on. Once we’ve kidnapped the word fair and square, we get to dress it up in the local costume. ---
**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 8, 2013, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/173 "2013-03-08T04:03:22Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > This actually gets at one of my real pet peeves: the idea that if we pirate a word from another language, we steal its grammar as well. There’s no reason that “blond” should follow French gender rules, or that “octopus” should follow Greek pluralization rules, and so on. Once we’ve kidnapped the word fair and square, we get to dress it up in the local costume. Yeah, a lot of those Greek and Latinate plurals bug me. Octopodes? Octopi? I vote “octopuses.” I’m fine with certain words like “media” and scientific/mathematical plurals like “radii” and “antennae,” but in other uses it’s quite jarring. I remember being at a business conference discussing the building of multiple “stadia” and it was just driving me crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Kelsie4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Kelsie4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kelsie4)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2013, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/174 "2013-03-08T04:12:32Z")
It’s a combination of spelling and grammar, but I get really irritated when people use the wrong form of the word there, their, or they’re and also the wrong form of your and you’re. I don’t know what it is but it’s super irritating to read. Society seems to not pay much attention to grammar anymore. I see people twice my age (I’m 23) who don’t seem to know which word to use. I just don’t understand it. What happens at their job? Or when they apply for a job? Huge pet peeve. ---
**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:** [March 8, 2013, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/175 "2013-03-08T04:27:18Z")
Here are two more things that annoy me. The first is pronouncing data with a short “a” sound. Every print dictionary I’ve ever read gives “daytuh” as either the first or only pronunciation of the word. “Datuh” just sounds juvenile to me. The other is a car- the Kia Spectra. That’s plural! Why would anyone give a car a plural name? What if Ford and Chevy did that? “Hey Joe, what are you driving these days?” “Well, I have a Mustangs, but I’d rather have a Corvettes!” ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2013, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/176 "2013-03-09T19:40:58Z")
> [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](#): > > When there’s a positive and negative of the same construction of a phrase to mean the same thing, there’s a pretty good chance that one of the constructions is sarcastic. Reminding me of this old thing: A double negative actually means a positive, but there’s no such thing as a double positive meaning a negative. Yeah, right. ---
**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 9, 2013, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/177 "2013-03-09T20:03:17Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > The other is a car- the Kia Spectra. That’s plural! Why would anyone give a car a plural name? What if Ford and Chevy did that? Nissan did (the Maxima). But that doesn’t bother me as much as people who talk about “a phenomena” or “a criteria.” ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/178 "2013-03-13T13:18:28Z")
> [@Stealth\_Potato](#): > > \ This is seen by the observable fact that they use different lexemes for one of the inflections in their respective paradigms, despite being homonymic in all their other forms. \ Wow, you are now my favorite English user of all time. In addition to using a word that I’ve never seen before (lexemes) you created the brilliant phrase “seen by the observable fact” which is brilliant beyond anything I could hope to conceive of. Yup, ended with a prepsition. Oh, well. ---
**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 13, 2013, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/179 "2013-03-13T13:43:03Z")
“which is brilliant beyond anything of which I could hope to conceive.” Bleh. ---
**Author:** ![NoCoolUserName](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5fc32e/32.png) [@NoCoolUserName](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NoCoolUserName)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2013, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669/180 "2013-03-13T13:51:25Z")
> [@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. \ It’s simply being polite. The speaker is suggesting that there will be more home runs hit by this person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-grammar-pet-peeve-hanged-vs-hung/651669.md?page=10)