hung out or hanged out (2025)

jackchow

Senior Member

Nanchang, Jiangxi, China

Chinese

  • Feb 12, 2011
  • #1

Hello,
A question puzzled me today that: Should we write He often hung out with me those days or He often hanged out with me those days?

Thank you.

  • brian

    Senior Member

    Montréal

    AmE (New Orleans)

    • Feb 12, 2011
    • #2

    The simple past of hang is always hung, except in the case of hanging someone to death, in which case it's hanged. But even in that case, many (if not most) people today, especially in speech, say hung.

    e2efour

    Senior Member

    England (aged 79)

    UK English

    • Feb 12, 2011
    • #3

    We only use the hanged out version when talking about someone who is hanged by the neck (i.e. an execution).

    She hung out the washing to dry. (not hanged)
    I hung my coat on a hook near the door.

    PS I agree with Brian. I often use hung instead of hanged.

    P

    peterlahey

    Senior Member

    Boston, MA

    US English

    • Jul 12, 2011
    • #4

    But, a note of caution. To say "he was hung" has a sexual meaning and could cause embarrassment.

    F

    Fabulist

    Banned

    Annandale, Virginia, USA

    American English

    • Jul 12, 2011
    • #5

    I still regard "hung" for "executed by hanging" as an illiterate error, and wouldn't use it even in speech, even though the distinction between "hung" and "hanged" is apparently modern, appearing in the 18th century.

    Occasions to use "hanged" are rare these days; you can almost always use "hung."

    brian

    Senior Member

    Montréal

    AmE (New Orleans)

    • Jul 12, 2011
    • #6

    Fabulist said:

    I still regard "hung" for "executed by hanging" as an illiterate error, and wouldn't use it even in speech, even though the distinction between "hung" and "hanged" is apparently modern, appearing in the 18th century.

    The distinction is becoming so uncommon now (in my experience) that a friend of mine even thought I was pulling her leg when I playfully corrected her use of "hung" in the context of execution.

    It's one of those distinctions that most people only learn at school, or never at all. In fact, even if you have parents who would say "hanged", the occasion for using/hearing it is so rare, as you say, that it's not the sort of irregularity that you as a child would easily acquire.

    I'd probably tell English learners they can forget about this distinction, unless they're studying for a test (but what a cruel and useless test that would be).

    P

    peterlahey

    Senior Member

    Boston, MA

    US English

    • Jul 12, 2011
    • #7

    "Hung" still has a very active sexual (what most cultures would consider vulgar) usage in the American Northeast (Boston, NYC, etc.). Even a very semi-literate teenager in the Bronx know what "hung" means. I wouldn't go as far as calling it an "illiterate error," though, since I accept that usage changes, but do I think the distinction is worth noting in a forum like this.

    F

    Fabulist

    Banned

    Annandale, Virginia, USA

    American English

    • Jul 12, 2011
    • #8

    "Hung" for "having large male sexual organs" is not "illiterate," although it is certainly vulgar slang. "Hung" for "executed by hanging from the neck until dead" is.

    I don't know if any country executes people by hanging anymore. It is no longer a method of execution in the United States, and I understand that in Great Britain a murderer is entitled to the life he denied his victim. Therefore, "hanged" need only be used in writing about past executions. If encountered in pre-21st-century writings, it will not be an error. The formula for pronouncing a death sentence in a jurisdiction that used hanging as the method of execution was that the convicted "be hanged from the neck until dead," not "be hung."

    I understand that linguistic niceties are routinely ignored by the lazy and the ignorant alike, and that if enough people do it, it becomes "correct." Thus "disinterested" no longer means "biased," "advocate" is no longer a transitive verb, etc. If that happens with "hanged," it will apparently be a return to the time when the verb had only a strong inflection.

    One could, of course, be hung by the neck without being hanged, although it would probably be very uncomfortable.hung out or hanged out (5)

    onitamo

    Senior Member

    Järna, Sweden

    Serbo-Croatian

    • Nov 30, 2013
    • #9

    Oh, I am now little confused. I see much discussion about this words "hung" or "hanged" but how is right to use it if someone want to say that he was associating with some friends, or as I need to be sure is this right to say:
    "I hung out with Evenks. We talked a lot...
    (Evenks are Tungus,tribe in Siberia and one researcher is telling story..)

    sdgraham

    Senior Member

    Oregon, USA

    USA English

    • Nov 30, 2013
    • #10

    onitamo said:

    Oh, I am now little confused. I see much discussion about this words "hung" or "hanged" but how is right to use it if someone want to say that he was associating with some friends, or as I need to be sure is this right to say:
    "I hung out with Evenks. We talked a lot...
    (Evenks are Tungus,tribe in Siberia and one researcher is telling story..)

    Your (informal) usage is fine. hung out or hanged out (8)

    I can see how you might be confused since this thread wandered about various meanings.

    Good luck

    onitamo

    Senior Member

    Järna, Sweden

    Serbo-Croatian

    • Nov 30, 2013
    • #11

    hung out or hanged out (10)Thank you!

    E

    Egmont

    Senior Member

    Massachusetts, U.S.

    English - U.S.

    • Nov 30, 2013
    • #12

    peterlahey said:

    But, a note of caution. To say "he was hung" has a sexual meaning and could cause embarrassment.

    While this is true, it does not apply to the phrase "hang out." This phrase is common, is used by people of all types, and should not cause any confusion or embarrassment.

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    hung out or hanged out (2025)

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