Cotton-picking

Cotton-picking

Meaning:

A general term of disapproval, of something that is troublesome or a nuisance.

Origin:

It can come as as little surprise that the term 'cotton-picking' originated in the southern states of the USA. 'cotton-picking' referred directly to the difficulty and harshness of gathering the crop. Of course, 'cotton-picking' must have been in use as an English adjectival phrase for as long as English-speaking people have picked cotton. There are numerous citations of 'cotton-picking' seasons/jobs/machines etc. since the late 1700s. J & E Pettigrew's Letters has an early example, from 1795:

'One of the students was banished... for going to a cotton picking after eight at Knight.'

Where memory doesn't play tricks is when recalling the works of the sainted Bugs Bunny. While not originating the term, Bugs can claim to have done more to fix it into the language than the rest of rabbitkind, especially in its most often used form 'Wait just a cotton-picking minute'. There's an example in Bully for Bugs, 1953:

"Just a cotton-pickin' minute, this don't look like the Coachella Valley to me!"

cotton-pickin minute - a time of hardship

Usage:

Stop picking on me you stupid cotton picker.