# Is it now acceptable to use "hung" instead of "hanged" in the sense of execution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 20, 2014, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235 "2014-01-20T00:25:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/21 "2014-01-20T23:34:30Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Not by me. > > Sure, language is fluid, meaning depends on current usage, and it’s a really weird rule. But … > > It’s “hanged”. Yes. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2014, 11:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/22 "2014-01-20T23:52:28Z")
Pretty much any usage goes in English, provided a critical mass of speakers/writers do it. “Newkyouler”, “real-a-tor”, “mere” (for mirror), and “Q-pon” are all totally acceptable now. I get that grammar is supposed to be descriptive not prescriptive, but I still get irrationally annoyed by this. This is especially true when the “child” pronunciations supplant the pronunciations formerly used by most adult native speakers. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/23 "2014-01-21T00:18:36Z")
It’s all right for you lot - we get all your Americanisms over here from TV shows. Don’t have realtor yet (we have much grander ‘estate agents’) but we do have noo for new and many others. As an aside - why do Americans have so much trouble saying ‘squirrel’ and ‘mirror’? It isn’t \*\*that \*\*hard. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/24 "2014-01-21T00:55:19Z")
We’re so busy and important that we refuse to let extra syllables slow us down. ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/25 "2014-01-21T07:41:25Z")
Why is it that when people change way they dress, we speak of the latest fashion, but when people change the way they talk, we speak of the latest error? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/26 "2014-01-21T12:23:31Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > It’s all right for you lot - we get all your Americanisms over here from TV shows. Don’t have realtor yet (we have much grander ‘estate agents’) but we do have noo for new and many others. > > As an aside - why do Americans have so much trouble saying ‘squirrel’ and ‘mirror’? It isn’t \*\*that \*\*hard. I never noticed the squirrel thing; I say “skwurrul”, with the second syllable definitely there even if its vowel is a schwa. How is it pronounced in other accents? ---
**Author:** ![Alley\_Dweller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alley_dweller/32/430_2.png) [@Alley\_Dweller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alley_Dweller)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/27 "2014-01-21T13:17:48Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Why is it that when people change way they dress, we speak of the latest fashion, but when people change the way they talk, we speak of the latest error? If no one, except perhaps for a few cultural anthropologists, can understand why people wore leisure suits and a big perms, it’s no real loss. But if it takes a highly trained linguistics scholar who specializes in 1980s English to read a book or document that was written in the 1980s, I would say that is a great loss. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/28 "2014-01-21T13:22:15Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > It is kind of interesting, though, to see the preference for the irregular “hung” vs the regular “hanged.” That is, instead of both senses of the word converging on “hanged,” they are converging on “hung.” I guess this isn’t unique. We see some of that happening in “sneaked/snuck,” with “sneaked” being the standard, but “snuck” rapidly gaining acceptance (and, frankly, “snuck” is the only past tense I use for “to sneak.” “Sneaked” just sounds weird to me.) One might think that with all the talk of “dumbing down” the language, the trend would be towards regularity, but apparently not necessarily. I think the commonality of these examples is that the root ends in a “k” or “g” (or “ng”) sound, putting your tongue in a place where it’s slightly difficult to move it right to a “d” sound. So, we tend to go with the “sing sang sung” pattern for these. “Irregular” might not be the best term for things which follow a well-established pattern; perhaps better to use “non-default” for these, and save “irregular” for really weird ones like the suppletive “is be was” thing. ---
**Author:** ![weemart](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f14d63/32.png) [@weemart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/weemart)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/29 "2014-01-21T13:22:51Z")
All languages are designed to evolve. I personally think that the most common spelling should be the prefered spelling. Therefore our dictionaries should be re-written to include b4 as before, u as you, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Sparky812](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Sparky812](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sparky812)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/30 "2014-01-21T13:27:04Z")
> [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](#): > > But to be serious, although I don’t care which word wins, thanks to my linguistic OCD I have also noticed “hung” being used more than ever lately in mainstream sources. It looks like “hanged” is the new “sneaked.” or “drug” is the new “dragged” > [@BrotherCadfael](#): > > I guess I have to do it… > > “Bart! They said you was hung!” > > “And they were _right_!” > [@handsomeharry](#): > > I don’t see how this thread made it more than 2 posts without this quote being quoted. > I also don’t see how anybody can even bring up this question, in light of this quote. Yep. It’s better to be well-hung than well-hanged. > [@bob\_2](#): > > As an aside - why do Americans have so much trouble saying ‘squirrel’ and ‘mirror’? It isn’t \*\*that \*\*hard. Err…it’s Germans that can’t say squirrel or mirror. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/31 "2014-01-21T14:52:30Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I think the commonality of these examples is that the root ends in a “k” or “g” (or “ng”) sound, putting your tongue in a place where it’s slightly difficult to move it right to a “d” sound. So, we tend to go with the “sing sang sung” pattern for these. “Irregular” might not be the best term for things which follow a well-established pattern; perhaps better to use “non-default” for these, and save “irregular” for really weird ones like the suppletive “is be was” thing. Perhaps, but “irregular” is the term for these types of verbs. Some verbs are more irregular than others, but “to be” is a particularly irregular example. Anyhow, there’s plenty of counterexamples I could think of, especially with “sneaked/snuck.” Off the top of my head, I can’t think of any other verbs ending in “eek” that form their past or participle with an “uck”. Peak, leak, reek, seek, tweak, etc., all just take regular “-ed.” The “hanged/hung” has a lot more support with the past tenses of -ing verbs like “sing” and “ring,” but all the -ang verbs I can think of take a regular past (see: bang, gang [up on], twang, and boomerang.) That’s what I guess seems a little oddball to me. What you posit seems to be the most logicial association that’s going on, some sort of mental analogy with similar verbs like sing/sang/sung, although “hang” is a present tense, not a past tense, so to use “hung” for the past instead of the past participle is a little different. So, instead of the sequence being “hing/hang/hung,” it’s “hang/hung/hung.” I can’t think of any other verbs that take “-ung” for their simple past other than “hang,” which is another irregularity about it so, in that case, it’s even more irregular than sing/sang/sung, as it doesn’t follow a usual pattern. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/32 "2014-01-21T15:09:33Z")
Good points. Sounds like you’d enjoy Pinker’s book _Words and Rules_, if you haven’t already done so. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/33 "2014-01-21T15:15:01Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Good points. Sounds like you’d enjoy Pinker’s book _Words and Rules_, if you haven’t already done so. I’m very familiar with Pinker’s work. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/34 "2014-01-21T16:19:40Z")
Whenever I hear an American say squirrel, they pronounce it Skwerl. Maybe it is the ones with German ancestors? Oddly Googling: “Americans” can’t pronounce squirrel, only produces a list of Germans… Grrr ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/35 "2014-01-21T16:23:03Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > If no one, except perhaps for a few cultural anthropologists, can understand why people wore leisure suits and a big perms, it’s no real loss. But if it takes a highly trained linguistics scholar who specializes in 1980s English to read a book or document that was written in the 1980s, I would say that is a great loss. Well put. ---
**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:** [January 21, 2014, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/36 "2014-01-21T18:43:40Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Whenever I hear an American say squirrel, they pronounce it Skwerl. Maybe it is the ones with German ancestors? Is it the initial vowel that is bothering you, or the absence of a second syllable? In my dialect, “squirreled” rhymes with “world.” Both sound like they _might_ have a schwa in the “rld” cluster, but it’s hard to tell. Merriam-Webster online shows both pronunciations with a “ər(-ə)l” cluster, so I’m assuming the (-ə) stands for a swallowed or implied schwa or something (not as an optional one, as the second pronunciation for “squirrel” is the same as the first pronunciation, exception without the parentheses around the schwa.) ---
**Author:** ![Flywheel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb8c5e/32.png) [@Flywheel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flywheel)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/37 "2014-01-21T19:08:26Z")
> [@Alan\_Smithee](#): > > Why is it that when people change way they dress, we speak of the latest fashion, but when people change the way they talk, we speak of the latest error? “The latest fashion”? Who uses that expression anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/38 "2014-01-21T21:08:44Z")
> [@Alley\_Dweller](#): > > If no one, except perhaps for a few cultural anthropologists, can understand why people wore leisure suits and a big perms, it’s no real loss. But if it takes a highly trained linguistics scholar who specializes in 1980s English to read a book or document that was written in the 1980s, I would say that is a great loss. But that’s manifestly not the case. People always complain that any change to language will lead to complete incomprehensibility, but anyone fluent in English can read contemporary works or works from the 80’s or even slangy 1930s detective novels with equal ease. Twain and Dickens use 19th century eye dialect for their characters and I can read it with little difficulty. Shakespeare is only a minor challenge. I don’t know about you, but I can read works that use the Oxford comma or not, that end sentences with prepositions or not, that use “hopefully” as a sentence modifier or not, that use British or American spelling, that put commas and periods inside or outside quotation marks or even eschew quotation marks for dialog entirely. I can understand singular “they” and “ain’t” and “snuck” and “youse” and “y’all” and “thee” and “thou” and “ca’n’t” and “to boldly go” and “cromulent” and “fugeddaboudit” and “Where to, guv’nuh?” and “l8r” and “1337” and “ok.” I even know why “cherry” and “pea” are wrong and why the Romans grew corn but the Indians didn’t. > [@Flywheel](#): > > “The latest fashion”? Who uses that expression anymore? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Alan\_Smithee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/2acd7d/32.png) [@Alan\_Smithee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alan_Smithee)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/39 "2014-01-21T21:16:15Z")
And before anyone suggests otherwise, I’m not saying that there is no such thing as errors in language or that all usages are equal. I’m saying that using slang in a business document (or any other linguistic solecism) is more like wearing a Hawaiian shirt to a business meeting than like thinking 2+2 is 5 or that Columbus sailed in 1942. ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2014, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235/40 "2014-01-21T21:23:21Z")
In the future, all words will be synonymous. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-it-now-acceptable-to-use-hung-instead-of-hanged-in-the-sense-of-execution/679235.md?page=3)