fighting words

1. A statement bound to start a quarrel or fight. It is often expressed as them's fighting words, as in You say your father's smarter than mine? Them's fighting words. The ungrammatical use of them's for “those are” emphasizes the folksy tone of this colloquialism, first recorded in Ring Lardner's Gullible's Travels (1917).

Example Sentences

And the ultimate fighting words, Ali saying them and Kram reporting: “Frazier was a dumb, ugly Uncle Tom.”

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It argues that there is no precedent for flag-burning “conducted in a manner that is likely to incite imminent lawless action,” and that “fighting words” aren’t “constitutionally protected.”

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I’ve even added some of Huntr/x’s songs to my resistance playlist titled, “Them’s Fighting Words.”

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These are fighting words, and we can safely assume that Jackson does not use them lightly.

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Employers resented Roosevelt’s pro-labor stance, as well as his fighting words attacking “economic royalists.”

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