Analysis of information sources in references of the Wikipedia article "Forca" in Portuguese language version.
Before the invention of the hinged trapdoor through which the victim was dropped, he or she was "turned off" or "twisted" by the hangman who pulled the ladder away.
...condemned persons still mounted a ladder which was turned round, leaving them dangling. This led to the phrase 'turned off'–they were literally turned off the ladder.
It was not until the introduction of the standard drop by Dr. Samuel Haughton in 1866, and the so-called long drop by William Marwood in 1872 that hanging became a standard, humane means to achieve instantaneous death.
