I was interested to read Norm Carlson's question about the old
distinction between 'hanged' and 'hung'.
 
> In the past few days, once in a poem and again in a novel, both works by
> reasonably highly regarded writers--I have come across the word "hung"
> to refer to people who had committed suicide by stringing themselves up:
> e.g., "One poor client hung himself from a basement rafter--...."  I
> recall being taught that beef (and other animal) carcasses were "hung"
> for aging purposes, but that human beings were "hanged."  Is this now a
> laughably quaint distinction?
 
 Upon looking in my 1990 edition of the Oxford Concise Dictionary, I
 had to chuckle when I saw that for 12 of the 13 possible meanings listed
for the verb 'hang,' the past and past participle is 'hung.'  ONLY for  'sense
number 7'  ('suspend or be suspended by the neck with a noosed rope') is
'hanged' to be used. Does 'hanged' have even half a chance of survival?
It looks like this form is soon going the way of 'digged,'  'sticked,' and other
verbs that were originally regular (weak) in OE but are now irregular
(strong)  verbs in ModE (e.g. lead-led, speed-sped, deal-dealt, set-set,
meet-met, etc). As Martha Kolln warns, keep your eye on 'drag'..."Look at
what the cat drug in!" (UEG  15).   The never-ending competition between
strong and weak forms of English verbs is immensely entertaining--even laughable
!
 
 
 
 
 
 
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R. Michael Medley       VPH 211                Ph: (712) 737-7047
Assistant Professor     Northwestern College
Department of English   Orange City, IA  51041
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