Problematic Words

I don't know about anyone else, but I always have a problem with "hanged" versus "hung". I can never remember which word goes with hanging a picture, and which with hanging a man. I cannot tell you how many times I've had to look it up on the Internet.

I thought that, maybe, if I share it here, it will help me remember.

When hang means "to suspend," then hung is the correct past tense and past participal form of the verb, i.e., "Yesterday, I hung a picture on the wall." and "I have hung many pictures on the wall."

When hang means "to put to death by hanging," however, hanged is the correct past tense and past participal form, i.e., "We hanged the horse-thieving varmint yesterday." and "We've hanged twenty horse thieves so far this year."

Why the fuss? you ask. I mean, since hanging is no longer a means to an end (at least in most civilized countries), so to speak, you might think that this is an unimportant distinction. But, because of a modern colloquial use of hung (and you know what I'm talking about), you can end up embarrassing yourself if you use hung as an adjective to describe a man executed by hanging.

History records that Martin Smith was hanged at Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1852; whether Mr. Smith was hung, history does not record.

See what I mean?

How about "further" versus "farther"? This one causes me trouble, too.

According to the sources I looked at, you should use "farther" when referring to distance, and "further" to indicate a continuation or extension in terms of time, degree, or anything else not relating to distance.

So, for example: "Arizona is farther from Ohio than from Texas."
"We could argue this point further, but it would be pointless."

What about you? Any particular word pairings that give you problems?