fighting words

Idioms  

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).

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Example Sentences

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

From Slate • Jun. 20, 2025

Those are fighting words, but they’re worth debating — especially now, as the headlines demonstrate how badly the antiwar side is doing.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 10, 2023

Justice Kagan acknowledged that “true threats,” like libel, incitement, obscenity and fighting words, are not protected by the First Amendment.

From New York Times • Jun. 27, 2023

It's about one company claiming that another company's defamatory actions caused it to lose business, not about "fighting words" or incitement to violence.

From Salon • Apr. 16, 2023

Adam has never met Mrs. Schein, so he doesn’t get that implying that Kim is a worrywart is fighting words.

From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman