hang up, hang on

Question

I hanged up buying new books these days as I don't have time to even read existing books.Please hang on 10 minutes. I will clear up this room till then.Please correct my sentences.

Feebs11 · Accepted Answer

User_garyI hanged up buying new books these days as I don't have time to even read existing books. Carries no meaning - You can say "I am hung up about buying..."

Please hang on 10 minutes.= Wait for ten minutes. OK I will clear up this room till then. I am clearing up the room.

Please correct my sentences.

User_gary · Answer

Thank you Feebs11.

"I am hung up about buying..." \

Do you mean "I am hung up about buying new books these days as I don't have time to even read existing books"? If yes, then I think here "hung up" is not a verb. Am I right?

Actually I want to apply the following meaning of hang up :

hang sth up (STOP USING) phrasal verb [M]
to stop using and needing something because you have given up the sport or activity it is used for:
e.g. when did you hang up your boxing gloves/golfclubs/ballet shoes?

Nona the brit · Answer

You can't really extend this meaning to things such as books.

It's a metaphor that is pretty strongly grounded in reality. Imagine you take part in a sport. When you finish playing you'll store the equipment - in a lot of cases by hanging it on hooks. If you stop taking part in that sport, then you will hang up your equipment for the final time. This phrase uses this imagery. You have stored the equipment away for the last time as you are no longer going to be doing that activity.

So, you can only 'hang up' nouns, not verbs (buying) and it's only used in limited cases - referring to the equipment used in the activity. It isn't restricted to sports, but there still needs to be a physical object you are putting away for the last time.

User_gary · Answer

Nona The BritYou can't really extend this meaning to things such as books.

It's a metaphor that is pretty strongly grounded in reality. Imagine you take part in a sport. When you finish playing you'll store the equipment - in a lot of cases by hanging it on hooks. If you stop taking part in that sport, then you will hang up your equipment for the final time. This phrase uses this imagery. You have stored the equipment away for the last time as you are no longer going to be doing that equipment.

So, you can only 'hang up' nouns, not verbs (buying) and it's only used in limited cases - referring to the equipment used in the activity. It isn't restricted to sports, but there still needs to be a physical object you are putting away for the last time.

Thank you very much Nona the Brit. I got it.

Feebs11 · Answer

To hang something up is the physical action of putting it on a hook.

Your sentence [a nice one, too] says that you are "hung up" - obsessionally concerned - about something, and yes, it is in this case an adjective.

It will not be possible to use the verb in the way you want in your sentence about books.

hang up, hang on

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