Sticks and stones, but words........wait.....

The expression goes, actions speak louder than words. This may be the case if there is intent of a sort of endgame, but this leads one to believe that words are miniscule in comparison to a physical action. For example, If I say that I'm going to live my dream, the general response froman involvedpersonwould be "put up or shut up".

However, if I would have never expressed this verbally, there would be no reasonable assurance that I would act on it, and if it is reachable beyond my current means then the difference between the seemingly meaninglessphrases going to and might be able to makes all the difference.

There is another familiar saying that goes "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me". On the contrary, words can be extremely harmful. One instance of this would be legal terminology. Any contractual document put forth by a corporation is written in legalese, and some of you may know that a lot of words in legalese mean something completely different in common vocabulary. We are expected to know the legalities of contracts that we put our signatures on, butmost people don't even speak the language. This sets the course for debt and/or usury, and even worse, repossession of property and possibly incarceration. These would be the sticks and stones, but really it is the words that hurt youbecause they are the foundation.

This goes for scenarios involving verbal conflicts as well, and even crosses the boundaries of law when words are regarded as threats which can land you with a lawsuit. Why? It is the eye-for-an-eye implementation. Because you said something that would indicate harm toward someone else, you are presumed to be truthful and thus prevented from doing so, which is harmful to you. In lesser cases, petty arguments are the same without enforced repremand. You can create quite a mix up saying things you do not truly believe, and you could easily set off a disastrous chain of events. This is equally admissable to productive communication.

These are my thoughts on words (lol), because I've been hearing a lot of "well I didn't mean what I said" lately and most people take it lightly. In reality, if you didn't mean what you said, you better never say it again without confirmation. Sorry about the length, I would like to hear your personal examples of when words truly hurt you more than they are commonly believed to be able.

The expression goes, actions speak louder than words. This may be the case if there is intent of a sort of endgame, but this leads one to believe that words are miniscule in comparison to a physical action. For example, If I say that I'm going to live my dream, the general response froman involvedpersonwould be "put up or shut up".

However, if I would have never expressed this verbally, there would be no reasonable assurance that I would act on it, and if it is reachable beyond my current means then the difference between the seemingly meaninglessphrases going to and might be able to makes all the difference.

There is another familiar saying that goes "sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can never hurt me". On the contrary, words can be extremely harmful. One instance of this would be legal terminology. Any contractual document put forth by a corporation is written in legalese, and some of you may know that a lot of words in legalese mean something completely different in common vocabulary. We are expected to know the legalities of contracts that we put our signatures on, butmost people don't even speak the language. This sets the course for debt and/or usury, and even worse, repossession of property and possibly incarceration. These would be the sticks and stones, but really it is the words that hurt youbecause they are the foundation.

This goes for scenarios involving verbal conflicts as well, and even crosses the boundaries of law when words are regarded as threats which can land you with a lawsuit. Why? It is the eye-for-an-eye implementation. Because you said something that would indicate harm toward someone else, you are presumed to be truthful and thus prevented from doing so, which is harmful to you. In lesser cases, petty arguments are the same without enforced repremand. You can create quite a mix up saying things you do not truly believe, and you could easily set off a disastrous chain of events. This is equally admissable to productive communication.

These are my thoughts on words (lol), because I've been hearing a lot of "well I didn't mean what I said" lately and most people take it lightly. In reality, if you didn't mean what you said, you better never say it again without confirmation. Sorry about the length, I would like to hear your personal examples of when words truly hurt you more than they are commonly believed to be able.

trust_nobody

Well, it's not the judge's verbal reading of the sentence that really hurts; it's the iron bars and the horrible leg irons that hurt.

Words have power. Just ask the kids who we're in Columbine and the Trenchcoat Mafia paid a visit.

Well, as far as the saying "actions speak louder than words" goes, that is completely true. People can say anything but it is their actions that show their true intent.

Now, when you say "sticks and stones... ", I think that is more what we wish were true than what actually occurs. Things we hear as a child can affect us long into adulthood.