Law Commons^™

Tort Liability For Abusive And Insulting Language, John W. Wade

Vanderbilt Law Review

"Sticks and stones may break my bones, but names will never hurt me."This old proverb did not originate with the courts, but it has commonly been regarded as expressing their attitude. Name calling is ordinarily not regarded as actionable under the Anglo-American legal system, no matter how opprobrious or violent the epithet.

A recent Ohio case will illustrate. In Bartow v. Smith,' plaintiff's attorney in his opening statement to the jury declared that a dispute had, arisen between defendant and plaintiff concerning the sale of a farm. Defendant, seeing plaintiff on the city street, came up to her and began …