On the radio today I heard someone saying - for the zillionth time, that someone was killed by being hung, not hanged. Somehow this causes me to giggle when I hear it. Am I THAT perverted? Does it strike anyone else as an odd use of "hung?"

It's common enough that, though I still hear it, it doesn't phase me in the least. Your mileage may vary, and you can giggle as deemed appropriate. Where are they still hanging people?

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Where are they still hanging people?

The USA is one of the last bastions of capital punishment (though maybe they use other methods of execution than hanging). The latest figures I have been able to find suggest the the USA ranks third in the world for judicial executions, behind China (top) and Congo. Cuba, by the way, is 20th.

On a more realistic per capita count, the USA does much better, being 20th and slighty better than Cuba (18th). And the top country for executions per capita? It's the Bahamas with 6.72 per thousand, just ahead of Singapore.

No European countries appear in the statistics I have (the top 30) and, indeed, I don't think that the death penalty is used in any European countries now.

Sigh. I see that hanging is only still legal in Washington. I'm still curious to hear where the hanging took place. (I, personally, am against capital punishment.)

I believe that, although the death penalty has been abolished for murder here in the UK, it is still possible for someone to be hanged for high treason.

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Originally posted by arnie:
I believe that, although the death penalty has been abolished for murder here in the UK, it is still possible for someone to be hanged for high treason.

Actually since 1999 we've had no death penalty at all. Until then there were various military crimes that still retained it but no civillian ones. Serious Misconduct in Action; Communicating with the Enemy; Aiding the Enemy or Furnishing Supplies; Obstructing Operations or Giving False Air Signals; Mutiny, Incitement to Mutiny or Failure to Suppress a Mutiny.

It was abolished for treason (and piracy) a year earlier.

More here.

The word 'hung' dates back to 1641, though it was originally used with reference to meat. However, in 1648 it was related to the more general term 'hanging things and in 1655 the definition includes the phrase 'to become high'. It seems to me that any of these could be used to refer to a man who is, as Asa refers to, 'hung'. This modern use of the word certainly refers to hanging meat and in the right circumstances it will 'become high' so why not?

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No European countries appear in the statistics I have (the top 30) and, indeed, I don't think that the death penalty is used in any European countries now.

I believe it's banned in the EU.

Has anyone else heard the slightly off color greeting "How's it hangin?"

CW, "How's it hangin'?" is a very, very personal question.

Hungarian = A well-endowed resident of a northern Indiana city.

... and ... speaking of carping ... some guys would bitch if they was hung with a new rope!!
(This probably originated in frontier or depression times when a new rope was to be admired regardless of how it was used.)

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Originally posted by arnie:
... it is still possible for someone to be hanged for high treason.

"Hanged," not "hung!" that's my point! Why isn't the difference noted any more? I heard a broadcast on NPR proclaiming that Iraquis had "hung" some US civilians some while back. Even supposedly responsible broadcast jurnalists don't know the difference.

Hungaryan, Jerry? Sounds to me like a well-endowed Indo-European, but what do I know...

But my original intent was to find out when/why "hanged" disappeared in the vernacular, replaced by "hung."

"Hanged," not "hung!" that's my point! Why isn't the difference noted any more? I heard a broadcast on NPR proclaiming that Iraquis had "hung" some US civilians some while back. Even supposedly responsible broadcast jurnalists don't know the difference.

Because English she is a-changin'. This is just one of those silly little "rules" so beloved by the grammaharians (my coinage because grammar maven is to be deprecated). This rule was first broached by Joseph Priestley in 1769, in direct contradiction to the facts of the English language.

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I believe it's banned in the EU.

I can't recall seeing any EC legislation about this and, in fact, the abolition of capital punishment has been happening in Europe for many years - long before the EC. EU legislation may have been enacted to ratify this - they produce enough new laws to paper the continent each and every year!

I think it's also the case in those European countries that are not in the EU, as well.

(From the EU website) Abolition of the death penalty is a requirement for countries seeking EU membership. All candidate countries (see regular reports on the accession countries) have acceded to Protocol No. 6 to the European Convention on Human Rights, concerning the Abolition of the Death Penalty. In addition, EU Member States are all signatories to Protocol 13 to the ECHR, concerning the abolition of the death penalty in all circumstances, which was adopted in Vilnius in May 2002. This treaty explicitly bans the death penalty in all circumstances, including in war-time.

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... and ... speaking of carping ... some guys would bitch if they was hung with a new rope!!
(This probably originated in frontier or depression times when a new rope was to be admired regardless of how it was used.)

Oh, but I thought it also had to do with the fact that new rope stretches, and thus gives the victim more time to . . . umm . . . survive?

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This rule was first broached by Joseph Priestley in 1769, in direct contradiction to the facts of the English language.

Really, jheem? I always think of Joseph Priestly as a scientist. Or...are you spoofing us?

This discussion stimulated me to read about Priestly, and I found that one of the reasons he experimented on "fixed air" (carbon dioxide) so much was because his house was close to a public brewery! When he was in Birmingham, he was in good company: Matthew Boulton (manufacturer of buckles and buttons) and James Watt, who together were preparing to manufacture the steam engine; Erasmus Darwin, grandfather of Charles Darwin; and William Small, a tutor of Thomas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary. Also he joined the Lunar society (referred to as the "Lunatics"), and Benjamin Franklin was a frequent guest there.

The things I learn from wordcraft!

Really, jheem? I always think of Joseph Priestly as a scientist. Or...are you spoofing us?

Seems to be the same guy. He wrote a book called The Rudiments of English Grammar in 1761, which went through many editions. As to CO2, many chemists experimented with mundane substances. Hening Brand, the alchemist who discovered phosphorus, experimented with urine because it was easy to get.