1216: Sticks and Stones

2013-05-24T16:59:37Z

Woliveirajr: /* Explanation */

{{comic
| number = 1216
| date = May 24, 2013
| title = Sticks and Stones
| image = sticks and stones.png
| titletext = Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words can make me think I deserved it.
}}

==Explanation==
{{incomplete}}

{{w|Sticks and Stones (nursery rhyme)}}:

<blockquote>Sticks and stones will break my bones<br>
But words/names will never harm/hurt me.</blockquote>
is a nursery rhyme said, often by parents, to persuade an individual, usually a child, to ignore any name calling or mean taunts that were said by others in an attempt to hurt the individual's feelings.

This comic plays on this rhyme by having the child come in and say that although words can't harm you physically, they can change how you feel and make you feel happy or sad and the child suggests that how you are feeling is all that matters in the world.
When Cueball suggests that the world isn't that bad the child reminds him of the "sticks and stones" part of the rhyme meaning that, even when emotions aren't an issue, the world can be quite harsh because there are things like sticks and stones that break your bones and presumably people who use them as weapons to do so. This is enough to change Cueball's mind so that he thinks the world is actually horrific.

The rhyme is actually incorrect, as recent studies (for example: http://www.pnas.org/content/108/15/6270.full?sid=758b38cc-b399-4d22-9c37-3c074cf321b) have shown that the brain's reactions to physical pain and emotional rejection are very similar and even feed into each other.

==Transcript==
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{{comic discussion}}
[[Category:Comics featuring Cueball]]
[[Category:Language]]

Talk:1216: Sticks and Stones

2013-05-24T16:58:20Z

Woliveirajr:

Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will hurt forever. --[[User:Buggz|Buggz]] ([[User talk:Buggz|talk]]) 06:04, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Noone can appreciate the difference between broken bones and someone namecalling him without experience with the first. The things childs do to each other is basically the worst they ever experienced - because if those wouldn't, they would do worse. -- [[User:Hkmaly|Hkmaly]] ([[User talk:Hkmaly|talk]]) 09:31, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Is it really a rhyme if it doesn't rhyme? --[[User:Dangerkeith3000|Dangerkeith3000]] ([[User talk:Dangerkeith3000|talk]]) 15:02, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

Citation: http://healthland.time.com/2012/02/27/in-the-brain-broken-hearts-hurt-like-broken-bones/ and http://www.pnas.org/content/108/15/6270.full?sid=758b38cc-b399-4d22-9c37-3c074cf321be [[User:Woliveirajr|Woliveirajr]] ([[User talk:Woliveirajr|talk]]) 16:58, 24 May 2013 (UTC)

explain xkcd - User contributions [en]

1216: Sticks and Stones

Talk:1216: Sticks and Stones