The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #132499   Message #3994781
Posted By: Jon Freeman
01-Jun-19 - 09:24 AM
Thread Name: BS: Language Pet Peeves
Subject: RE: BS: Language Pet Peeves
As far as I can see from Chambers and the Oxford Dictionary Online, people may be “hung” or “hanged” but the latter is rather more common.

The Oxford one goes on to explain:   
The reason for this distinction is a complex historical one: hanged, the earlier form, was superseded by hung sometime after the 16th century; it is likely that the retention of hanged for the execution sense may have to do with the tendency of archaic forms to remain in the legal language of the courts