My parents said sticks and stones will break your bones but names will never hurt you. But I always felt a sense of exhilaration after a fight; it was the names that really hurt me.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours.
Sticks and stones will break our bones, but words will break our hearts.
Sticks and stones may break bones, but words do more damage than most people can imagine. Especially name-calling. 'You're dangerous!' 'Deceived.' 'A false prophet.' 'A compromiser!' Charges like these by young-earth leaders, both spoken and implied, are intended to discredit, maim, and crush old-earth advocates, including me.
You could have names like Hatred; you could have names that mean something like Suffering or Poverty. So names are not just names: names have real meaning, and they tend to tell the world about the circumstances of your parents at the time that you were born.
When you have a name that means scares, you have to live with that.
Names are what people sometimes use to excuse their thoughts and actions towards you.
Changing my name was traumatic for me.
The stones tear like flesh, rather than breaking. Although what happens is violent, it is a violence that is in stone. A tear is more unnerving than a break.
Sometimes a nickname is used instead of the real name. But a nickname may offend either the one named or the parents who gave the name.
Words are really powerful. I don't believe that axiom at all - words can absolutely hurt you. Words can wound. They can do a lot of damage. I think they can do way more damage than sticks and stones. I'll take sticks and stones.