Why is that even a saying? Nothing could be further from the truth. It's words that can last longer than any bruise. Hell, I can think of things that were said to me as a child that still (*)(*)(*)(*) me off even now when I think about it. Anyone else agree?
Words only hurt if you let them. Sticks and stones break bones and hurt, you don't have much of a choice.
Origin Sticks and stones may break my bones but names will never hurt me' is a stock response to verbal bullying in school playgrounds throughout the English-speaking world. It sounds a little antiquated these days and has no doubt been superseded by more streetwise comebacks. The earliest citation of it that I can find is from an American periodical with a largely black audience, The Christian Recorder, March 1862: Remember the old adage, 'Sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me'. True courage consists in doing what is right, despite the jeers and sneers of our companions. That reference to the expression as an 'old adage' in 1862 suggests and earlier coinage.
That's something I talked to my kids about when they were getting into their teens. "You can't unring a bell".... once those ugly mean words are spoken, they can cut deep into the core and always remembered, even despite the apologies, regardless of it's sincerity...."Don't do that to your friends, no matter how angry you may be"........
