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<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>On the Web, "cotton picker" is widely cited as being an ethnic slur.
BB</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>cotton-picking</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>From the OED</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005>The harvesting of cotton;
a social gathering for removing the seed from cotton. Also <I>attrib.</I> or as
<I>adj.</I>; spec. in <I>slang</I> (orig. <I>Southern U.S.</I>) as a general
term of disapproval or abuse, = ‘damned’.<!--end_def-->
<BR> <BR> <SMALL><A name=50051463q1></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_ed--><!--start_d--><FONT
size=3>1795<!--end_d--><!--end_ed--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_ea--><!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-j.html#j"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT size=3><FONT
color=#000000>J.<!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></FONT></A><!--end_a--><!--end_ea--><FONT
size=3> & <!--start_ea--><!--start_a--><!--open_smallcaps-->E. P</FONT><FONT
size=2><SMALL>ETTIGREW</SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--><!--end_a--><!--end_ea--></FONT><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_ew--><!--start_w-->MS. Let.<!--end_w--><!--end_ew--></I> 3
Oct. (D.A.E.), <!--start_qt-->One of the students was banished..for going to a
cotton picking after eight at Knight.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q2></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1835<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-i.html#j-h-ingraham"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>J. H. I</FONT><SMALL><FONT size=2>NGRAHAM</FONT></SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_w-->South-West<!--end_w--></I> II. 126
<!--start_qt-->Placed in the field to take a spell at cotton-picking.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A name=50051463q3></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1845<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3>
<I><!--start_w-->Knickerbocker<!--end_w--></I> XXV. 426 <!--start_qt-->A lazy
nigger in cotton-pickin'-time.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q4></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1891<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Boston<!--end_w--></I> (Mass.) <I><!--start_w-->Herald<!--end_w--></I> 9 Nov., <!--start_qt-->Cotton Picking
Machine..The wheels are four feet apart to enable it to cover a row of cotton
plants.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q5></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1945<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-b3.html#b-a-botkin"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>B. A. B</FONT><SMALL><FONT size=2>OTKIN</FONT></SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Lay my Burden Down<!--end_w--></I> 92 <!--start_qt-->We
didn't have no kind of cotton-pickings 'cept just pick our own cotton.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q6></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1958<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Post<!--end_w--></I> (N.Y.) 1 June M3, <!--start_qt-->I don't
think it's anybody's cotton-pickin' business what you're doing.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q7></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1968<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-p2.html#j-philips"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>J. P</FONT><SMALL><FONT size=2>HILIPS</FONT></SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Hot Summer Killing<!--end_w--></I> (1969) <!--open_smallcaps--></FONT><FONT size=2><SMALL>III</SMALL></FONT><FONT size=3>.<!--close_smallcaps--> iii. 161 <!--start_qt-->You have to be a hero or
out of your cotton-picking mind.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051463q8></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1970<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-k.html#m-kenyon"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>M. K</FONT><SMALL><FONT
size=2>ENYON</FONT></SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_w-->100,000 Welcomes<!--end_w--></I> xvii. 142 <!--start_qt-->Damn Mickey McQuaid for ever bringing me to this pixilated,
cotton-pickin' country.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--></FONT></SMALL><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>From Wordorigins.com</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005>
<P>Believe it or not the adjective <I>cotton-picking </I>comes from Bugs Bunny
and the Looney Tunes cartoons. He may not have been the first to use it, but he
gets credit for first recorded use.</P>
<P>But the noun <I>cotton-picker</I> is older. It dates to around 1919 and
refers to a contemptable person. Those who worked in the fields, usually blacks,
were beneath notice. The racial overtones have mellowed over the years, but it
is still a derogatory term.</P>
<P><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial size=2>From Phurba (<A
href="http://www.panikon.com/phurba/"><FONT
color=#000000>http://www.panikon.com/phurba/</FONT></A>)</FONT></SPAN></P>
<P><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><STRONG>Cotton-Picking</STRONG> - A general
adjective of abuse, the word comes from the noun "cotton picker," which was
generally a racist term meaning someone of the lowest social stature. It refered
to the cotton picking duties of slaves. We have Bugs Bunny to thank for the term
"cotton-picking" as an adjective, or at least its popularity. It was first
recorded in a Bugs Bunny cartoon, but it may, of course, be
older.<BR></SPAN></P></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>Cotton picker</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>OED</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><STRONG>a.</STRONG> One
who picks cotton from the bolls of the plant; also, a machine for doing this.<!--end_def--><A name=50051462def2></A> <!--start_def--><A
name=50051462-mb></A><B>b.</B> A machine for cleaning and dressing cotton.<!--end_def--> <BR> <BR> <SMALL><A name=50051462q1></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_ed--><!--start_d--><FONT
size=3>1833<!--end_d--><!--end_ed--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <I><!--start_ew--><!--start_w-->Deb. Congress<!--end_w--><!--end_ew--></I> 26
Jan. 1363 <!--start_qt-->To save this cost [<I>i.e</I>. of picking cotton by
hand], a cotton picker has been invented.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051462q2></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1849<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Sci.
Amer.<!--end_w--></I> V. 172 <!--start_qt-->New Cotton Picker.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A
name=50051462q3></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1850<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-t.html#m-tensas"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>‘M. T</FONT><FONT size=2><SMALL>ENSAS</SMALL></FONT><FONT size=3>’<!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Louisiana Swamp Doctor<!--end_w--></I> 35 <!--start_qt-->Behold
me, then, a student of medicine, but yesterday a cotton-picker.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--> </FONT><A name=50051462q4></A><!--start_q--><NOBR><B><!--start_d--><FONT size=3>1937<!--end_d--></FONT></B></NOBR><FONT size=3> <!--start_a--></FONT><A
href="http://dictionary.oed.com.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/help/bib/oed2-c3.html#coolidge"
target=oedbib color="#6666CC"><!--open_smallcaps--><FONT color=#000000><FONT
size=3>C</FONT><SMALL><FONT
size=2>OOLIDGE</FONT></SMALL><!--close_smallcaps--></FONT></A><!--end_a--><FONT
size=3> <I><!--start_w-->Texas Cowboys<!--end_w--></I> 15 <!--start_qt-->Eastern
Texas, according to the punchers, is given over to cotton and corn, and their
favorite term of reproach is to call a man a cotton-picker.<!--end_qt--><!--end_q--></FONT></SMALL><BR></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2>From <A href="http://www.angelfire.com/geek/APRACE/glossary.html"><FONT
color=#000000>http://www.angelfire.com/geek/APRACE/glossary.html</FONT></A>, a
glossary of racist terms:</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN
class=031225600-24022005>Cotton-Picker
Blacks <SPAN class=031225600-24022005>O</SPAN>riginates from
pre-Civil War US. Refers to the slaves who picked cotton all day at the
plantations.</SPAN><SPAN class=031225600-24022005></DIV></SPAN>
<DIV dir=ltr align=left><SPAN class=031225600-24022005><FONT face=Arial
color=#0000ff size=2></FONT> </DIV></SPAN><BR>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV class=OutlookMessageHeader lang=en-us dir=ltr align=left>
<HR tabIndex=-1>
<FONT face=Tahoma size=2><B>From:</B> William J Poser
[mailto:billposer@alum.mit.edu] <BR></FONT><BR></DIV>
<DIV></DIV><TT>I'm not sure that I see the point about "cotton-picking"
being<BR>racist. While, at least in the US, the people who picked
cotton<BR>were for a long time black slaves, as I understand it the
phrase<BR>has nothing to do with who did the work, it has to do with
the<BR>nature of the work. "cotton-picking" means "unpleasant and
tediously<BR>detailed" because (I am told - as a northerner I have no
experience<BR>of picking cotton) picking cotton involves pulling off each
individual<BR>tuft of cotton (you can't just knock them off as you can many
kinds<BR>of berries) and so is quite tedious and leads to repetitive
motion<BR>injuries. I have the vague memory that there is also
something<BR>scratchy on cotton plants.<BR></TT></BLOCKQUOTE><!-- |**|end egp html banner|**| -->
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