A mere legality

Tue Feb 21 21:58:23 UTC 2012

Aren't we saying "hanged" anymore (that is, in speaking of hanging by
the neck, not suspension of the entire body)? Just asking. (I thought
"hung" meant something else when applied to humans, although at this
stage I only faintly remember.)

-----Original Message-----
From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On Behalf
Of Joel S. Berson
Sent: Tuesday, February 21, 2012 9:56 AM
To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
Subject: Re: A mere legality

---------------------- Information from the mail header
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                   American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
Subject:      Re: A mere legality
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At 2/21/2012 12:11 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
>On Tue, Feb 21, 2012 at 11:11 AM, Baker, John <JBAKER at stradley.com>
wrote:
> > I believe they typically were buried by the roadside.
>
>Wasn't at a crossroads? But I may have this impression as a
>consequence of having listened to the blues song too many times.;-)

Miscreants were hung at crossroads, so that they would be a visible
caution to the many.  And sometimes left there for a while.

A notable instance is that of Mark, convicted together with a female
servant of petty treason for the murder of their master.  After being
hung in 1755, Mark's body was taken to Charlestown, where the crime
had been committed, and left hanging at a crossroads near the
Charlestown ferry, at a point where the road turned towards Medford
and Cambridge.  Mark's body is alleged to have been seen by Paul
Revere on his ride, 20 years later, but it is more likely that
Revere's reference is merely an identification of a well-known
location.  (It is certain that Mark's body was still there in 1758, 3
years after his execution, but there are only second-hand assertions
that it was still there until shortly before the Revolution.)

I don't know about suicides.

Joel

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