hung/hanged; was Re: ring, rang, rung

Jim Parish jparish at SIUE.EDU
Wed May 10 22:12:51 UTC 2006


Barbara Need wrote:
> I had learned this well enough to consider it standard. So recent
> utterances with hung plus a human object have startled me
> considerably. I don't remember where I saw/heard them--I just
> remember my reaction.

It's been around a while; if I recall correctly, the song "The Night the
Lights Went Out In Georgia" includes the lines, "They hung my brother
before I could say / The tracks he saw while on his way / To Andy's
house and back that night were mine". The song was released in 1973.

(Ah. Checking online, I see that the chorus also contains that usage:
"That's the night that the lights went out in Georgia / That's the night
that they hung an innocent man".)

For what it's worth.

Jim Parish

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