Sticks and Stones is an English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 children's rhyme. It persuades the child victim of name-calling to ignore the taunt

Taunt

A taunt is a battle cry, a method in hand-to-hand combat, sarcastic remark, or insult intended to demoralize the recipient, or to anger them and encourage reactionary behaviors without thinking. Taunting can exist as a form of social competition to gain control of the target's cultural capital...

, to refrain from physical retaliation, and to remain calm and good-natured. The phrase is found at least as early as 1872, where it is presented as advice in Tappy's Chicks: and Other Links Between Nature and Human Nature, by Mrs. George Cupples. The most common version, as used in that work, runs:

Sticks and stones
Will break my bones
But names will never hurt me.

An alternate version is:

Sticks and stones
May break my bones
But words will never hurt me.

This sentiment is reflected in the common law

Common law

Common law is law developed by judges through decisions of courts and similar tribunals rather than through legislative statutes or executive branch action...

 of civil assault

Assault (tort)

In common law, assault is the tort of acting intentionally, that is with either general or specific intent, causing the reasonable apprehension of an immediate harmful or offensive contact. Because assault requires intent, it is considered an intentional tort, as opposed to a tort of negligence...

, which holds that mere name-calling does not give rise to a cause of action, while putting someone in fear of physical violence does..