ProverbCommunication
French origin
French originUn coup de langue est pire qu'un coup de lance
Meaning: Hurtful words do more harm than physical blows.
Literally: A stroke of the tongue is worse than a stroke of the lance
Example: “Ses remarques cruelles l'ont blessée pendant des années. Un coup de langue est pire qu'un coup de lance.” — His cruel remarks hurt her for years: wounds may heal, but not those made by ill words.
Equivalents in English, Spanish, German, Italian, Russian, and Arabic
English: Wounds may heal, but not those made by ill words.
Spanish: Sanan llagas, y no malas palabras (literally: Wounds heal, but not ill words)
German: Ein böses Wort verwundet mehr als ein scharfes Schwert (literally: An evil word wounds more than a sharp sword)
Italian: Ne uccide più la lingua che la spada (literally: The tongue kills more than the sword)
Russian: Слово не стрела, а пуще стрелы разит (Slovo ne strela, a pushche strely razit) (literally: A word isn't an arrow, but strikes harder than one)
Arabic: جراحات السنان لها التئام، ولا يلتأم ما جرح اللسان (Jirāḥāt as-sinān lahā iltiʾām, wa-lā yaltaʾim mā jaraḥa al-lisān) (literally: Spear wounds heal; what the tongue wounds never does)
Origin: The near-rhyme of langue (tongue) and lance sets the weapon of speech against the weapon of war. Italian says the same with a sword: ne uccide più la lingua che la spada.
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