Idiom
sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
Meaning
A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
“When the bullies teased him at school, he ignored them and said, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
“She maintained her composure during the heated debate, reminding her critics that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Examples
simple
“Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
contextual
“When the bullies teased him at school, he ignored them and said, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
complex
“She maintained her composure during the heated debate, reminding her critics that sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me.”
Origin
The earliest recording dates from March 1862 in the US, but is implied to have been used earlier.
Key words
Related idioms
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