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

In corporate-speak, those are fighting words about as barbed as they come: They insinuated that Altman had been lying.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 20, 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

Well, we heard a lot of fighting words, but we didn't see a lot of soldiers.

From Salon • Jun. 16, 2023

From the typically staid and restrained Department of Justice, these are fighting words.

From Slate • Jan. 27, 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