Hung Or Hanged?

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Cervantes

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Hi,
I read the following line in a screenplay:

"That was the room she hung herself"

I thought that the correct form in this case should be:

That was the room she hanged herself"

According to my dictionary when hang is used with the connotation of killing by hanging then "hang" is regular. Am I right or is my dictionary obsolete? or can we use both forms now?

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Anglika

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Though "hanged" is still technically correct, "hung" is increasingly used.

Shouldn't it be "the room in which she..."?
 

Linguist__

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The way I learned it, 'hanged' is used for humans. 'Hung' is used for non-humans. (I assume we consider 'witches' centuries ago as humans, and use 'hanged' with them also when talking about the witch trials that went on in Europe and the US.)

Why there is a distinction, I don't know. The distinction isn't generally followed, and 'hung' is used more often than 'hanged', even when talking about humans. I agree with Anglika though, 'hanged' is technically correct.
 

Cervantes

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So it means that both forms are acceptable now with that connotation...

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Raymott

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So it means that both forms are acceptable now with that connotation...

Thanks
Perhaps. Conservatives will possibly not accept "hung" and a lot of people, through ignorance, would question the use of "hanged".
But that's not a rare phenomenon in language.
 
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