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| A place at which I love to hang out… Seascape by William Trost Richards, 1901 |
I looked this word up the other day to make sure “get the hang of it” would be an appropriate phrase to use in a book set in 1911–and discovered that there are a plethora of hang uses with surprising elements!
The one in question dates from 1834–and was a primarily American use of the word for a great many years.
But it was the verb usages that surprised me. The “teen slang” sense of hang that means “spend time” dates from 1951–which is about what I’d expect. But did you know that hang out is from 1811?? I had no idea it was so old! And hang around, meaning “idle, loiter,” is from 1830. Another one that was way older than I thought!
Roseanna M. White is a bestselling, Christy Award winning author who has long claimed that words are the air she breathes. When not writing fiction, she’s homeschooling her two kids, editing, designing book covers, and pretending her house will clean itself. Roseanna is the author of a slew of historical novels that span several continents and thousands of years. Spies and war and mayhem always seem to find their way into her books…to offset her real life, which is blessedly ordinary.
DEFINITELY older than I would have thought. Thanks for filling me in, friend 🙂
LOL. That definition of "hang" dates from Old English…though apparently it was originally only used of crucifixion.
And I imagine "hang by the neck until dead" would be several centuries old (and potentially original context for "hang around"? I mean, they're not going anywhere . . . )