"sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me" meaning in English

See sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Phrase

Etymology: The earliest recording dates from March 1862 in the US, but is implied to have been used earlier. Head templates: {{head|en|phrase|head=sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me}} sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
  1. (idiomatic) A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference. Wikipedia link: Sticks and Stones (nursery rhyme) Tags: idiomatic Synonyms: sticks and stones, sticks and stones may break my bones, sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me, sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me Related terms: don't feed the troll Translations (a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference): ei haukku haavaa tee (Finnish), joka toista haukkuu, sen napa paukkuu (Finnish), la bave du crapaud n’atteint pas la blanche colombe (French), Was kümmert's die Eiche wenn die Sau dran schabt (German), लाठी और पत्थर मेरी हड्डियों को तोड़ सकते हैं, लेकिन शब्द मुझे कभी चोट नहीं देंगे (lāṭhī aur patthar merī haḍḍiyõ ko toṛ sakte ha͠i, lekin śabd mujhe kabhī coṭ nahī̃ deṅge) (Hindi), câinii latră, ursul merge (Romanian), nu mor caii când vor câinii (Romanian), хоть горшко́м назови́, то́лько в пе́чку не ставь (xotʹ gorškóm nazoví, tólʹko v péčku ne stavʹ) (Russian), дрвље и камење [Cyrillic] (Serbo-Croatian), drvlje i kamenje [Roman] (Serbo-Croatian), a palabras necias, oídos sordos (Spanish)
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  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the tongue wounds more than a lance"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The earliest recording dates from March 1862 in the US, but is implied to have been used earlier.",
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      "expansion": "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me",
      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
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      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference."
      ],
      "id": "en-sticks_and_stones_may_break_my_bones,_but_words_will_never_hurt_me-en-phrase-Yhqf11CX",
      "links": [
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference."
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "don't feed the troll"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "sticks and stones"
        },
        {
          "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones"
        },
        {
          "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me"
        },
        {
          "word": "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
        },
        {
          "word": "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "ei haukku haavaa tee"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "joka toista haukkuu, sen napa paukkuu"
        },
        {
          "code": "fr",
          "lang": "French",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "la bave du crapaud n’atteint pas la blanche colombe"
        },
        {
          "code": "de",
          "lang": "German",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "Was kümmert's die Eiche wenn die Sau dran schabt"
        },
        {
          "code": "hi",
          "lang": "Hindi",
          "roman": "lāṭhī aur patthar merī haḍḍiyõ ko toṛ sakte ha͠i, lekin śabd mujhe kabhī coṭ nahī̃ deṅge",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "लाठी और पत्थर मेरी हड्डियों को तोड़ सकते हैं, लेकिन शब्द मुझे कभी चोट नहीं देंगे"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "câinii latră, ursul merge"
        },
        {
          "code": "ro",
          "lang": "Romanian",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "nu mor caii când vor câinii"
        },
        {
          "code": "ru",
          "lang": "Russian",
          "roman": "xotʹ gorškóm nazoví, tólʹko v péčku ne stavʹ",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "хоть горшко́м назови́, то́лько в пе́чку не ставь"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "tags": [
            "Cyrillic"
          ],
          "word": "дрвље и камење"
        },
        {
          "code": "sh",
          "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "tags": [
            "Roman"
          ],
          "word": "drvlje i kamenje"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
          "word": "a palabras necias, oídos sordos"
        }
      ],
      "wikipedia": [
        "Sticks and Stones (nursery rhyme)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
}
{
  "antonyms": [
    {
      "word": "the tongue wounds more than a lance"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "The earliest recording dates from March 1862 in the US, but is implied to have been used earlier.",
  "head_templates": [
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        "2": "phrase",
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      "name": "head"
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  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "phrase",
  "related": [
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      "word": "don't feed the troll"
    }
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      "glosses": [
        "A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference."
      ],
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      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) A response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference."
      ],
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        "idiomatic"
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        "Sticks and Stones (nursery rhyme)"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "sticks and stones"
    },
    {
      "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones"
    },
    {
      "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never harm me"
    },
    {
      "word": "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
    },
    {
      "word": "sticks and stones will break my bones, but words will never harm me"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "ei haukku haavaa tee"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "joka toista haukkuu, sen napa paukkuu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fr",
      "lang": "French",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "la bave du crapaud n’atteint pas la blanche colombe"
    },
    {
      "code": "de",
      "lang": "German",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "Was kümmert's die Eiche wenn die Sau dran schabt"
    },
    {
      "code": "hi",
      "lang": "Hindi",
      "roman": "lāṭhī aur patthar merī haḍḍiyõ ko toṛ sakte ha͠i, lekin śabd mujhe kabhī coṭ nahī̃ deṅge",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "लाठी और पत्थर मेरी हड्डियों को तोड़ सकते हैं, लेकिन शब्द मुझे कभी चोट नहीं देंगे"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "câinii latră, ursul merge"
    },
    {
      "code": "ro",
      "lang": "Romanian",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "nu mor caii când vor câinii"
    },
    {
      "code": "ru",
      "lang": "Russian",
      "roman": "xotʹ gorškóm nazoví, tólʹko v péčku ne stavʹ",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "хоть горшко́м назови́, то́лько в пе́чку не ставь"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "tags": [
        "Cyrillic"
      ],
      "word": "дрвље и камење"
    },
    {
      "code": "sh",
      "lang": "Serbo-Croatian",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "tags": [
        "Roman"
      ],
      "word": "drvlje i kamenje"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "a response to taunting proclaiming the speaker's indifference",
      "word": "a palabras necias, oídos sordos"
    }
  ],
  "word": "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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