# it's hanged, goddamn it **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [July 25, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781 "2008-07-25T21:22:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/1 "2008-07-25T21:22:31Z")
People are hanged, clothes are hung. Fuck. How hard is that to grasp? Fuckity fuckity fuckity fuck. And while we’re on the topic, it’s sneaked, not snuck. Fucking morons. Oh yeh, and dragged, not drug. Fuck. ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/2 "2008-07-25T21:23:59Z")
…and its “lend me your lawnmower”, not “borrow me your lawnmower” --f’ing knuckle dragging dolt. ---
**Author:** ![Hogwash](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a88e57/32.png) [@Hogwash](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hogwash)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/3 "2008-07-25T21:24:39Z")
I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that I am hanged like a black man. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/4 "2008-07-25T21:25:34Z")
[QUOTE=Hogwash] I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that I am hanged like a black man. [/QUOTE] By guys wearing white sheets? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/5 "2008-07-25T21:26:22Z")
[Blazing Saddles] Bart! Bart! They told us you was hung! And they was right. [/Blazing Saddles] ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/6 "2008-07-25T21:26:49Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] People are hanged, clothes are hung. Fuck. How hard is that to grasp? Fuckity fuckity fuckity fuck. And while we’re on the topic, it’s sneaked, not snuck. Fucking morons. Oh yeh, and dragged, not drug. Fuck. [/QUOTE] Despite the compelling repetition of the word “fuck”, I’m not convinced. _Why_ are people not hung? If I hang you by your back collar from a coat hook, are you hung then? ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/7 "2008-07-25T21:29:05Z")
Badges? We don’t need no stinkin’ badges! ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/8 "2008-07-25T21:30:54Z")
THANK YOU!!! That “hanged/hung” thing drives me quietly berserk every time. People who use “hung” for “hanged” should be hanged by the neck until dead, dead, dead. ---
**Author:** ![bannerrefugee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/c68b51/32.png) [@bannerrefugee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bannerrefugee)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/9 "2008-07-25T21:32:59Z")
This seems like a pretty trivial thing to have such a hang up over. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/10 "2008-07-25T21:41:14Z")
For me, it’s definitely “snuck”, not “sneaked”. Your usage may vary. Echoing **begbert2** , it seems perfectly logical to use the same word “hung” in both cases. Apparently, for many people, that is the natural way to speak, as evidenced by your frequently having come across (and been annoyed by) such speech. Your assertions about what “it is” therefore do not seem to accurately describe the situation. Prescriptivism is odd; sometimes, it’s all about adherence to tradition (“use ‘sneaked’, not ‘snuck’”), and sometimes, it’s bullheadedly not (“do not use ‘hanged’ and ‘hung’ interchangeably, or even one form exclusively”). There’s no real rhyme or reason to any of it. ETA: I didn’t notice **Dr. Drake** ’s post below me when I added the above paragraph, but it fits well. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/11 "2008-07-25T21:41:49Z")
…especially since there’s no historical justification for it. The distinction was an attempt to reconcile two competing paradigms, hang / hung / hung and hang / hanged / hanged. A lot of verbs in English have shifted from weak to strong or strong to weak. Compared American dive / dove / dived with British dive / dived / dived. My father is convinced that “sit” and “set” have the same distinction as hanged / hung — people sit, while objects “set” (as in “the book sets on the table”). ---
**Author:** ![The\_Hamster\_King](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@The\_Hamster\_King](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Hamster_King)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/12 "2008-07-25T21:46:15Z")
That thing you’re standing behind? It’s not the **podium**. The podium is the thing you’re standing ON. The thing you’re standing behind is the **lectern**. Drives me frickin’ nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Litoris](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/9f8e36/32.png) [@Litoris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Litoris)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/13 "2008-07-25T21:49:10Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] For me, it’s definitely “snuck”, not “sneaked”. Your usage may vary. Echoing **begbert2** , it seems perfectly logical to use the same word “hung” in both cases. Apparently, for many people, that is the natural way to speak, as evidenced by your frequently having come across (and been annoyed by) such speech. Your assertions about what “it is” therefore do not seem to accurately describe the situation. Prescriptivism is odd; sometimes, it’s all about adherence to tradition (“use ‘sneaked’, not ‘snuck’”), and sometimes, it’s bullheadedly not (“do not use ‘hanged’ and ‘hung’ interchangeably”). There’s no real rhyme or reason to any of it. ETA: I didn’t notice the post below me when I added the above paragraph, but it fits well. [/QUOTE] Just because you can’t be arsed to speak English correctly does not negate the reality of what is and is not correct. [hang](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hang) As for “sneaked” vs “snuck” – as “snuck” is an idiot-yet-accepted by the dictionary past tense, feel free to sound stupid to my ears every time you use it. Do not expect me to think your IQ is above that of a retarded hammer, though. **bannerrefugee** – hee hee. Thanks for the giggle. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/14 "2008-07-25T21:49:39Z")
[QUOTE=Pochacco] That thing you’re standing behind? It’s not the **podium**. The podium is the thing you’re standing ON. The thing you’re standing behind is the **lectern**. Drives me frickin’ nuts. [/QUOTE] Interesting. [Definition #2](http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=podium) of the American Heritage Dictionary for “podium” is “A stand for holding the notes of a public speaker; a lectern”. Similarly with [Merriam-Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/podium). (Other dictionaries following similarly…) ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/15 "2008-07-25T21:56:00Z")
> [@](#): > > As for “sneaked” vs “snuck” – as “snuck” is an idiot-yet-accepted by the dictionary past tense, feel free to sound stupid to my ears every time you use it. Do not expect me to think your IQ is above that of a retarded hammer, though. Well, do what you want, if you’re so committed to making unjustified inferences; the best I can point out is that stubborn adherence to such an inference would give markedly inaccurate conclusions about the general population of “snuck”-users. But I doubt you actually think my IQ fails to be above that of a retarded hammer. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/16 "2008-07-25T22:04:04Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] Just because you can’t be arsed to speak English correctly does not negate the reality of what is and is not correct. [hang](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hang) As for “sneaked” vs “snuck” – as “snuck” is an idiot-yet-accepted by the dictionary past tense, feel free to sound stupid to my ears every time you use it. Do not expect me to think your IQ is above that of a retarded hammer, though. **bannerrefugee** – hee hee. Thanks for the giggle. [/QUOTE] The way I read it, the dictionary you linked to says they can be used interchangeably, but that the always-legal alternative “hanged” is ‘especially’ common for the “killed by rope around neck” sense (despite ‘hung’ also being legal). Hmm, I wonder how much reading comprehension skill a retarded hammer has? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/17 "2008-07-25T22:15:20Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] Just because you can’t be arsed to speak English correctly does not negate the reality of what is and is not correct. [hang](http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/hang) [/QUOTE] That’s hardly authoritative, and the reality of what is and is not correct in English is ambiguous at best. Ten out of 10 for smugness, though. I bet you’re a blast at dinner parties. ---
**Author:** ![Baldwin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baldwin/32/7264_2.png) [@Baldwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baldwin)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/18 "2008-07-25T22:15:38Z")
“Hung” and “hanged”; either is correct as the past tense of “hang”. You’re getting upset about nothing. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 10:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/19 "2008-07-25T22:35:30Z")
[QUOTE=Hogwash] I’d like to take this opportunity to announce that I am hanged like a black man. [/QUOTE] He is – I peaked. [QUOTE=Pochacco] That thing you’re standing behind? It’s not the **podium**. The podium is the thing you’re standing ON. The thing you’re standing behind is the **lectern**. [/QUOTE] This has bothered me for most of my dais. ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2008, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/20 "2008-07-25T23:11:32Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] People are hanged, clothes are hung. \ Fucking morons. [/QUOTE] Allow me to introduce some fucking morons, courtesy of Merriam-Webster 's Dictionary of English Usage: “for these rogues that burned this house to be hung, in some conspicuous place in town.” – Samuel Pepys “should not escape unpunished. I hope he hung himself.” – Jane Austen “These men were…at last brought to the scaffold and hung.” --Percy Bysshe Shelley “I have not the least objection to a rogue being hung.” – W. M. Thackeray “The negro murderer was to be hung on a Saturday without pomp.” – William Faulkner “a thirteen-year-old evangelist, who hung himself because his mother spanked him for sassing her.” – Flannery O’Connor Now, I personally find the distinction between ‘hung’ and ‘hanged’ to be a useful (and an elegant) one, and I observe it in my own speech and writing on the rare occasions when the opportunity presents itself. But I’ve learned (with the help of [Language Log](http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/) and the aforementioned MWDEU) to forswear the seductive self-righteous pleasure that accompanies linguistic prescriptivism in favor of the intellectual pleasure of discovering the reality of language use. Incidentally, in case you’re curious, according to MWDEU, ‘snuck’ started showing up in published writings at least as early as 1887, has been used by Ring Lardner, and has appeared in straightforward use in the pages of the _NY Herald Tribune Book Review_, the _LA Examiner_, the _New Yorker_, and the _Wall Street Journal_, to name a few. You may not like it, but with 130 years of use, ‘snuck’ looks to be here to stay. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781.md?page=2)