Hi, Alexander!  Recently you wrote in a message to Ardith Hinton:

AH>  Henry Higgins says about Eliza & her Cockney accent:

AH>  ... She should be taken out and hung
AH>  For the cold-blooded murder of the English tongue.


ak>  Yeah, having thought it over I've realized that it
ak>  is quite natural that "language" and "tongue" can
ak>  mean the same. For instance, in Russia we use exactly
ak>  Russian analogue of "tongue" for both meanings.


         Can you spell it for us using the Latin alphabet?  I'm curious about
this because two of my dictionaries say... to make a long story short... that
"language" and "tongue" in English originated from much the same source.  The
former came from the Latin "lingua" via Old French while the latter came from
an older form of the same Latin word via some of our Teutonic ancestors.  :-)



ak>  At the http://www.ldoceonline.com/dictionary/hang_1
ak>  they say that a process of killing with a rope should
ak>  have "hang/hanged/hanged" forms.


         Two of the three dictionaries I consulted expressed the same idea...
not by saying "should", but by demonstrating formal usage & politely ignoring
other options.  While dictionaries nowadays are supposedly descriptive rather
than prescriptive they may also leave a person wondering at times why so much
of what s/he sees & hears on a regular basis isn't listed.  If it's not in my
dictionary it doesn't exist, right?  Nah... I think my modem buddies here are
more intelligent.  Thankyou, GAGE CANADIAN, for your "usage notes"... [grin].



ak>  Nobel people


         IMHO you're probably referring to the nobility, i.e. the aristocracy
who find it a challenge to keep drafty old castles warm without adding sturdy
British woollen insulation... not to the folks who assign Nobel prizes.  :-))



ak>  always liked, probably, this form of the verb.
ak>  Therefore, as an idiom, they say:

ak>  The entrance hall was hung with rich tapestries.


         "Not our [socioeconomic] class, Dear."  I have seen similar examples
in other dictionaries although I'd be more likely to say:

            I've hung a calendar on the wall next to my computer

                                    or

            The kids at my old elementary school hung their coats on pegs
            mounted along the back wall of the room

                                    or

            At Maisie's Bar & Grill the smaller pots & pans are hung on a
            rack suspended from the kitchen ceiling.

But I don't know of any world-famous plays or novels about that... [chuckle].




--- timEd/386 1.10.y2k+
 * Origin: Wits' End, Vancouver CANADA (1:153/716)