sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Also seen as: sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me
Sense 1
Physical harm is easier to recover from than emotional harm caused by insults
Tổn thương thể chất dễ hồi phục hơn tổn thương cảm xúc do lời lẽ xúc phạm
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Sense 2
English proverb; full definition pending editorial review.
Sources & notes
Listed on English Wikiquote “English proverbs” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” mean?
Physical harm is easier to recover from than emotional harm caused by insults Literally: physical objects vs verbal insults
Is “sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.