"Sticks and stones will break my bones but names will never hurt me". I dunno, Don't some words break things too? That NEVER heal?

You mean when the Queen says "off with their heads" and your head gets chopped off? Or do you mean the lifelong pain that can come from the spoken word? Thank you for your reply dw.

Condolences whistle. I am sorry that was your experience. You know kids don't forget. I still remember criticisms from my mom when I was a kid that really hurt me. She was a fault-finder to be sure. She didn't hate as far as I could perceive nor bellow nor rant. But she always made me feel that I was lacking/inadequate.This is silly compared to what you experienced but I"ll give you an example. She said my ears stuck out so I should always cover them. Which I always have. She also said I have a low forehead so I should wear bangs. Which I did until I was fifty and then I decided "the he** with that I don't LIKE bangs" and stopped. Guess what? No one noticed! No one stared at me like I was some kind of freak! But I still cover my ears. In 2008 I had cancer and lost my hair and I just wish my mom had been alive to see that my ears did not look like Dumbo ears. Anyway as you can see I have some scars. Not as bad as yours are. We have to be VERY CAREFUL what we say to children. It matters. They don't forget. Thank you for your reply and Happy Saturday whistle! :)