hanged or hung?

This is one of the great spelling dilemmas, because it memorialises a class distinction as well as spelling choice. Originally, 'hanged' and 'hung' were not so distinct, but time and usage meant that 'hanged' came to mean 'killed by being suspended with a rope round one's neck' while 'hung' described non-human suspension.

Thus you could say that a tyrant hanged peasants but he hung pheasants. And that's how I remember it--the shorter word with the longer word each time. Though you could equally well thnk of the tarot card 'the hanged man' (see above). This is in fact not as gruesome as you might think, and generally considered a symbol of good fortune--perhaps because whoever is hanging him put the noose round his foot rather than his neck...

This reminds me of Eleanor's query about spelled/spelt. In fact, either version is acceptable, but in America the regularised form 'spelled' is preferred, and this has had an influence on the rest of the world. So if someone corrects you on this, Eleanor, you can tell them that they're wrong, as a verb 'spelt' is perfectly respectable, just very English. Stand up for irregular verbs, I say!

There's a lovely page here which has explanations and clarifcations of common errors of English Usage, which is fun to browse through in an idle moment...