# Hanged vs. Hung **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 4, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657 "2012-10-04T03:08:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/1 "2012-10-04T03:08:07Z")
Looking through the history of someone who has made a lot of unconstructive edits on Wikipedia, I see they edited the article on [this man](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mohammad_Najibullah) and changed a single word: His blood-soaked body was **hanged** from a traffic light. His blood-soaked body was **hung** from a traffic light. My rule of thumb has always been that people are hanged, things are hung, but this sentence has me scratching my head because the man in question wasn’t hanged to death; he was already dead when his body was hoisted up on the traffic light. Does a person have to be alive for the word “hanged” to be used? Is a dead body that is strung up hanged or hung? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/2 "2012-10-04T03:18:08Z")
“Hanged” refers to the execution technique – “to suspend by the neck until dead.” People, dead or alive, can be hung – “to fasten to some elevated point without support from below.” ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/3 "2012-10-04T03:18:58Z")
It’s always been my understanding that “hanged” is used as a method of execution. If the person is already dead, he becomes an object, and would therefore be hung after death. I’d probably find another word. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/4 "2012-10-04T03:30:15Z")
My gut feeling was that “hanged” referred to the execution method and so “hung” was the correct word in this instance. “People are hanged; things are hung” is a little misleading because clearly animals can be hanged too, right? ---
**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:** [October 4, 2012, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/5 "2012-10-04T03:43:18Z")
I swear I remember it differently. When I went to school, hung needed a helper verb, as in “the stockings were hung.” Hang didn’t, as in “he hanged the stockings.” Being human didn’t change it- “they hanged him” or “he was hung by the neck” were both OK. Does anyone else remember learning that or am I misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![picker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/picker/32/13969_2.png) [@picker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picker)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/6 "2012-10-04T03:47:52Z")
I AM hung, I don’t WANT to be hanged. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/7 "2012-10-04T03:54:06Z")
“They said you was hung!” “They was RIGHT!” ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/8 "2012-10-04T04:22:51Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > “People are hanged; things are hung” is a little misleading because clearly animals can be hanged too, right? And don’t forget Johnny Wadd, who was well-hung. ---
**Author:** ![Cazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cazzle/32/75_2.png) [@Cazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cazzle)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/9 "2012-10-04T04:32:41Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And don’t forget Johnny Wadd, who was well-hung. Don’t forget **picker**. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/10 "2012-10-04T04:49:21Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > And don’t forget Johnny Wadd, who was well-hung. You can be well hung but you cannot be well hanged. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/11 "2012-10-04T04:54:50Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Don’t forget **picker**. Well, him I’ll take his word for. > [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > You can be well hung but you cannot be well hanged. Oh I dunno. As long as the neck gets a clean break, I’d say that’s well hanged. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 5:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/12 "2012-10-04T05:08:44Z")
Okay, getcher minds outta the gutter… Is “hung” wrong? If I say, “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung,” is that actually wrong, or is it simply, perhaps, not the more preferred way of expressing it. (Whew! Dodged a trap! I started to write “The most preferred way,” but someone would likely have said not to use “best” when speaking of only two options!) I used “hung” recently in that way, and my b.i.l. insisted it was wrong. I thought both were right when speaking of executing someone. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/13 "2012-10-04T05:41:07Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Okay, getcher minds outta the gutter… > > Is “hung” wrong? If I say, “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung,” is that actually wrong, or is it simply, perhaps, not the more preferred way of expressing it. > > (Whew! Dodged a trap! I started to write “The most preferred way,” but someone would likely have said not to use “best” when speaking of only two options!) > > I used “hung” recently in that way, and my b.i.l. insisted it was wrong. I thought both were right when speaking of executing someone. The [Usage Note](http://education.yahoo.com/reference/dictionary/entry/hang) under “hang” in American Heritage Dictionary: **Usage Note: _Hanged_, as a past tense and a past participle of _hang_, is used in the sense of “to put to death by hanging,” as in _Frontier courts hanged many a prisoner after a summary trial_. A majority of the Usage Panel objects to _hung_ used in this sense. In all other senses of the word, _hung_ is the preferred form as past tense and past participle, as in _I hung my child’s picture above my desk_.** ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/14 "2012-10-04T08:55:02Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > Okay, getcher minds outta the gutter… > > Is “hung” wrong? If I say, “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung,” is that actually wrong, or is it simply, perhaps, not the more preferred way of expressing it. > > (Whew! Dodged a trap! I started to write “The most preferred way,” but someone would likely have said not to use “best” when speaking of only two options!) > > I used “hung” recently in that way, and my b.i.l. insisted it was wrong. I thought both were right when speaking of executing someone. Yeah, sorry, I’d must agree with you BIL. I’d know what you meant if you said that, but I’d still picture someone dangling from their midrif from the gallows, rather than being executed. If you meant to say he was executed you should use “hanged”. The sentence “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung” sounds like there should be something after it: “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung _upside down_”, or “The convict was taken to the gallows and hung _from a butcher’s hook like a piece of meat_”. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/15 "2012-10-04T09:48:01Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > Does a person have to be alive for the word “hanged” to be used? Is a dead body that is strung up hanged or hung? Yes to the first, hung to the second. Yer’ welcome. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 11:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/16 "2012-10-04T11:07:29Z")
So if you saw a dead body hanging from a street light with a rope around its neck, you really don’t know if the person was hung or hanged. It’s one of those things where you just had to be there. ---
**Author:** ![CheeseDonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ecae2f/32.png) [@CheeseDonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CheeseDonkey)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/17 "2012-10-04T12:05:49Z")
I’ve always wondered in baseball why they say “flied out” instead of “flew out.” ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/18 "2012-10-04T16:53:42Z")
> [@CheeseDonkey](#): > > I’ve always wondered in baseball why they say “flied out” instead of “flew out.” There’s an intuitive reason, and a logical reason. The intuitive reason is that if you say “The batter flew out”, it sounds like he started flapping his arms and went up into the air. The logical reason is that it comes from the noun phrase “a fly ball”, not from the verb “to fly”. A general principle in English (and apparently in all languages, according to Steven Pinker), is that when an irregular verb is used as part of an idiom where it is no longer used as a verb, and the idiom as a whole is converted back into a verb, it becomes regular. ---
**Author:** ![Esox\_Lucius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/848f3c/32.png) [@Esox\_Lucius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Esox_Lucius)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/19 "2012-10-04T17:08:36Z")
> [@Eliahna](#): > > “People are hanged; things are hung” is a little misleading because clearly animals can be hanged too, right? If “hung like a horse” is any indication, the answer is no.😉 ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2012, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657/20 "2012-10-04T20:03:09Z")
This exchange from _Sherlock_ helps me to remember: Prisoner: “Hey, you gotta help me, Mr. Holmes! Everyone says you’re the best. Without you… I’ll get hung for this.” Sherlock: “No, no, Mr. Bewick, not at all. _Hanged_, yes.” [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hanged-vs-hung/636657.md?page=2)