Grice The Hangman

From the online etymological dictionary. We are considering that 'hang' is NOT polysemous, but rather 'aequi'-vocal.

"hang:

"a fusion of O.E. hon "suspend" (transitive, class VII strong verb; past tense heng, pp. hangen), and O.E. hangian (weak, intransitive, past tense hangode) "be suspended;""

-- Why! If that is a fusion, I wouldn't know what they would think of MOLECULAR fusions!

"also probably influenced by O.N. hengja "suspend," and hanga "be suspended.""

To suspend and be suspended seem to mean the same thing to me (cfr. 'the ship sank', 'the ship sank ANOTHER ship').

"All from P.Gmc. *khang-, from PIE *keng- "to waver, be in suspense" (cf. Goth. hahan, Hittite gang- "to hang," Skt. sankate "wavers," L. cunctari "to delay;" see also second element in Stonehenge)."

So -- I am supposed to go to Wiltshire to check this? Oops. I see the second element in the "Word" "Stonehenge").

"Hung emerged as pp. 16c. in northern England dial., and hanged endured only in legal language (which tends to be conservative)"

as L. J. Kramer will remind us.

"and metaphors extended from it (I'll be hanged)."


---- You see, it's a conversational implicature (like Grice's "You are the lemon in my tea, I'll be hanged!")

"Teen slang sense of "spend time" first recorded 1951;"

------- Usually with 'out' -- since who wants to hang IN?

"hang around "idle, loiter" is from 1830, and hang out (v.) is from 1811."

Oops, I was wrong. It irritates me how something logical can post-date something not so logical. Who cares for dates? I so feel like Grice sometimes ("I don't give a hoot what the dictionary says" -- only I say Richard, not Dick.).

"Hang fire (1781) was originally used of guns that were slow in communicating the fire through the vent to the charge. To get the hang of (something) "understand" is from 1845."

I think it was Susan. A woman called Susan who first used it.

"To let it all hang out "be relaxed and uninhibited" is from 1970."

Etc.

"Senses should not be multiplied beyond necessity". So what was Benjamin Franklin thinking?!?