rocks and stones

Joanne M. Despres jdespres at MERRIAM-WEBSTER.COM
Tue Nov 18 21:57:50 UTC 2003


As a onetime English major, I tend to agree with James Smith
about the more mellifluous sound of "stones you throw"; I'd guess
Parton's word choice was motivated by the internal rhyme in that
phrase.  I'm sure the allusion to the proverb plays a part, though,
too, especially if the "message" of the proverb were consistent with
the overall theme of the song.

Joanne

Joanne M. Despres, Senior Editor
Merriam-Webster, Inc.
jdespres at merriam-webster.com
http://www.merriam-webster.com



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