hung/hanged

[Jonathan Lighter]

About 1982 a mischief-maker called up a local radio talk show on the
subject of capital punishment to observe, "Now, you say you're in favor of
the death penalty. That must mean if a woman's committed murder, you'd like
to see her hung just like man, is that right?"

"I don't think hanging is still in use. Is it?"

"Well, if it was, you're saying you'd like to see women hung just like men,
is that what you're saying?"

"If the state prescribes hanging as capital punishment, then yes."

"OK then. You'd like to see a woman hung just like a man. Thank you."

(No, wise-guys, I was not the caller.)

Hence the (admittedly limited) value of observing the "hung/ hanged"
distinction.

JL

On Mon, Sep 3, 2012 at 3:02 PM, Joel S. Berson <Berson at att.net> wrote:

> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> -----------------------
> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
> Poster:       "Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET>
> Subject:      Re: hung/hanged
>
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> At 9/3/2012 01:35 PM, Wilson Gray wrote:
> >BTW, what's the difference between appealing to authority and
> >straight-up prescriptivism?
>
> What if the authority is descriptivist?  Is a descriptivist authority
> still prescriptivist in not prescribing?
>
> Joel
>
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>



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