# 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:** 5
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/81 "2008-07-26T12:40:05Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] I got an aneurysm trying to convince the kiddies that periods and commas _always_ go inside the quotation marks and that it changes for question marks and exclamation points. I finally got it across, I think…Then I found out that that is true only in the States. The Brits are different. [/QUOTE] The rule about question marks is true on both sides of the pond and I reckon always has been, since it’s inherently logical. The period moved inside the quotes (at least in the U.S.) for old typographical reasons which I can’t quite recall. I have heard it’s different in the U.K., but have read books made in Britain and didn’t notice that the periods were outside the quote marks. ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/82 "2008-07-26T12:53:20Z")
[QUOTE=Zoe] Most of the writers on your longer list were fiction writers. They often wrote in dialect. It is certainly understandable if the characters in their stories used the “wrong” word. That does not imply that the writers themselves didn’t know better or approved or would have made this choice for themselves. That still leaves a couple of them unexplained. Or perhaps “hung” was considered appropriate for the past tense in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Century educated classes. [/QUOTE] This is just desparate maneuvering in an attempt to defend an indefensible prescription. The Pepys quote is from his diary, 1667. The Austen quote is from a personal letter she wrote in 1815. The Shelley quote is from address he gave in 1817. The Faulkner quote is from a work called _Sanctuary_, published in 1931. The Flannery O’Connor quote is from a personal letter she wrote in 1960. Again I say, I personally like the distinction between hanged and hung and I observe it in my own usage. But you need to STOP telling people who don’t that they’re wrong. They’re using perfectly good, standard English as it has been used by careful, informed and admired writers for centuries. Unquoted portions of your response go on to eloquently defend acquiring more flexibility in one’s usage, rather than limiting oneself to the language one’s absorbed by osmosis. Go thou, and do likewise. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2008, 1:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/83 "2008-07-26T13:00:58Z")
When I am in The Americas, it is “gotten” and “sunken;” when I am in the Old World it is “got” and “sunk.” You respect my variant of the language here. I respect your old-fashioned, dusty, arcane variant there. Thanks so much. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/84 "2008-07-28T21:12:47Z")
[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] I know just what you mean. This morning I phoned the drugstore to renew a scrip’ for my blood pressure dragged. Halfway through the call, the draggedist hanged up on me! I phoned again, and the draggedist yelled something about not being a transvestite. Then he hanged up again! In this county, we don’t hear “fuckity fuck” often. However, Interstate 69 sweeps through, so “lickety-split” is common. The last time I was in St. Louis, I went to Sneaked’s to get some beer. It’s plain enough to me. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2008, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/85 "2008-07-28T21:54:08Z")
[QUOTE=Ersatz Shmoe] On Monday mornings, my co-workers like to talk about the movies that they seen over the weekend. Drives me up the fuckin’ wall. [/QUOTE] First, I agree. I hate contemporary Hollywood. Second, there’s a grammatical error in your post. It should be “the movies they **seented** over the weekend.” You should use the past tense of ‘seen’ when talking about last weekend, you know. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/86 "2008-07-29T01:35:36Z")
Perhaps they are talking about movies that they see on a regular basis over weekends; in this case, use of the habitual aspect would be, if not mandatory, at least stylistically preferable: “the movies they **be seening** over the weekend”. ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/87 "2008-07-29T04:04:47Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Perhaps they are talking about movies that they see on a regular basis over weekends; in this case, use of the habitual aspect would be, if not mandatory, at least stylistically preferable: “the movies they **be seening** over the weekend”. [/QUOTE] Right, but it is the _previous_ weekend, so shouldn’t it be "the movies they **be seenteding** over the weekend’?’ ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/88 "2008-07-29T04:23:36Z")
While a natural conclusion to draw, it is nowhere specified that it is the _previous_ weekend being referred to. However, I take your point, though in my dialect, the appropriate phrasing would then be “the movies they **be seening** over the **weekended** ”. ---
**Author:** ![cmyk](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyk/32/3353_2.png) [@cmyk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cmyk)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/89 "2008-07-29T05:07:34Z")
[QUOTE=Scuba\_Ben] My pet peeve, as revealed earlier this week in GQ, is **verbing** nouns… [/QUOTE] That’s _so_ meta. ---
**Author:** ![Wallenstein](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b5a626/32.png) [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2008, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/90 "2008-07-29T08:53:29Z")
[QUOTE=Indistinguishable] Alright, it’s settled then. We’ll use “nauseous” to mean “sick to the stomach” and “nauseating” to mean “makes people sick to the stomach”, and all confusion will be averted. What’s that? People already do this? Interesting… [/QUOTE] Ouch… speaking of inelegant butchering of language, WTF is the deal with “sick to my stomach”? I feel sick = I need to barf I feel ill = I have a general malaise Sick to my stomach = meaningless bollocks ---
**Author:** ![Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/7993a0/32.png) [@Jamaika\_a\_jamaikaiake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamaika_a_jamaikaiake)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/91 "2008-07-30T03:47:48Z")
[QUOTE=Wallenstein] Ouch… speaking of inelegant butchering of language, WTF is the deal with “sick to my stomach”? I feel sick = I need to barf I feel ill = I have a general malaise Sick to my stomach = meaningless bollocks [/QUOTE] Lemme help you with that: I feel sick = I feel ill = I have a general malaise Sick to my stomach = I have to worship the porcelain god Bollocks = Meaningless spronch [QUOTE=Indistinguishable] While a natural conclusion to draw, it is nowhere specified that it is the previous weekend being referred to. However, I take your point, though in my dialect, the appropriate phrasing would then be “the movies they **be seening** over the **weekended** ”. [/QUOTE] Dude, you missppelled **weekented**. ---
**Author:** ![Indistinguishable](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/90ced4/32.png) [@Indistinguishable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indistinguishable)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/92 "2008-07-30T04:13:00Z")
[QUOTE=Jamaika a jamaikaiaké] Dude, you missppelled **weekented**. [/QUOTE] Aw, shit. I knew something was wrong when I couldn’t find “weekended” in the dictionary, but I just assumed it was a decision to not list regular inflections. ---
**Author:** ![Charger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df788c/32.png) [@Charger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charger)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/93 "2008-07-30T05:52:59Z")
[QUOTE=Litoris] People are hanged, clothes are hung. [/QUOTE] And the clothes would have dried more quickly if you had _wringed_ them out first. It’s just that “hanged” _sounds_ clunky and awkward. As grammatically correct as it is, it _feels_ like hearing someone say, “I drived my car today.” ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 2:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/94 "2008-07-30T14:00:59Z")
[QUOTE=Charger] And the clothes would have dried more quickly if you had _wringed_ them out first. It’s just that “hanged” _sounds_ clunky and awkward. As grammatically correct as it is, it _feels_ like hearing someone say, “I drived my car today.” [/QUOTE] Exactly. The English language is fluid, there are some rules but the meanings and usages of words are not set in concrete. My mother’s name is Gay. She is not now nor has ever been homosexual, she was just born in a time when gay meant happy and was a perfectly sensible name for a daughter. My child’s grandfather was hung/hanged for murder. I always say he was hung because I clearly have no respect for the English language or for him. While hanged may be ‘correct olde English’ there have been bigger more common changes then hung/hanged to the language, even recent years. ‘English’ is the native language of many countries yet it almost needs a translator to translate one accent to the next (just ask my mother…she doesn’t understand Coronation Street!). Just because hanged is CORRECT ENGLISH doesn’t mean hung doesn’t make sense and it does because the meaning is clear. What about the ever present sentence “I’ll google it”. Those guardians of the English language who are clear that ‘hung’ is not proper English possibly ‘googled’ to check that fact. 'Google" is the perfect example of a language that adaptable to change Hanged or hung the bugger is still bloody dead! If I talk about gumboots while you mean wellingtons or galoshes nobody is wrong, we just speak a slightly different version of the same language and the language is always changing. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/95 "2008-07-30T15:08:02Z")
[QUOTE=Aholibah] 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. [/QUOTE] I’m coming into this thread late, but I didn’t want to let this get buried under the rest of the thread. I think this is an _excellent_ and well thought-out sentiment. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/96 "2008-07-30T15:17:58Z")
Americans have been misreading (and mispronouncing) _chaise longue_ as chaise lounge for so long it’s actually made it into the dictionary. How sad is that? [QUOTE=5 - 4 Fighting] He is – I peaked. [/QUOTE] I see what you did there. ---
**Author:** ![Aholibah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Aholibah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aholibah)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/97 "2008-07-30T15:27:49Z")
[QUOTE=Bosstone] I’m coming into this thread late, but I didn’t want to let this get buried under the rest of the thread. I think this is an _excellent_ and well thought-out sentiment. [/QUOTE] Thanks for the kind words! ---
**Author:** ![Hampshire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hampshire/32/4887_2.png) [@Hampshire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hampshire)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/98 "2008-07-30T15:41:22Z")
[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. [/QUOTE] It’s “asked” not “ARSED”!!! Fuckity, fuckity, fuckity, fuck. Fucking morons. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/99 "2008-07-30T16:27:00Z")
I used \*gonna \* in one thread a while ago and \*kinda \* this week. Where should I pay the fines to the language police? Do they take plastic? ---
**Author:** ![calm\_kiwi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9fc348/32.png) [@calm\_kiwi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/calm_kiwi)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2008, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781/100 "2008-07-31T11:12:07Z")
[QUOTE=Hampshire] It’s “asked” not “ARSED”!!! Fuckity, fuckity, fuckity, fuck. Fucking morons. [/QUOTE] Asked? In what way does “I can’t be asked” even vaguely make sense. “I cant be arsed” may not be polite English but it means “I can’t be bothered”. What on Earth does “I can’t be asked” mean…even in polite terms? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/its-hanged-goddamn-it/457781.md?page=6)