How many of us were brought up under that adage, "Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me"?

I was talking with my daughter earlier, and she believes that philosophy taught at least a couple of generations that verbal abuse and bullying is at best not harmful, and at worst "okay". That we should just not let it get to us, as if it is somehow our fault if we don't shake it off.

I'm still pondering this. As a kid, I felt empowered when I shot that back at another kid who was teasing me or otherwise being mean.

But of course, now we all know that words certainly do hurt people, and verbal abuse can be just as cruel as any other kind. Perhaps more.

Do you think that old saying contributed to making us more vulnerable to verbal abusers? Did it give us a mental "weapon" against hurtful words? Or is it just a harmless old saying?