Cotton-pickin’ Minute (Cotton-picking Minute)
“Now wait just a cotton-picking minute!” means the same as “Now wait just one damned minute!” There is no exact measure of time.
“Well, here I am. Hey, just a cotton-picking minute. This don’t look like the Coachella Valley to me” was in the Bugs Bunny cartoon Bully for Bugs (1953). “After the victory, the favorite expression with the South Carolina contingent Saturday night was, ‘Wait a cotton pickin’ minute!’” was printed in the Greenville (SC) News on November 17, 1953.
“Cotton-picking minute,” as used in the Bugs Bunny cartoon, did not have a racist intention, but the term is often regarded as racist and generally should be avoided.
“Exactly how long is a cotton picking minute?” is a slang joke that has been printed on many images. This jocular version printed on an image was included in a tweet on July 24, 2016.
“Pea-pickin’ minute” is a similar term.
(Oxford English Dictionary)
cotton-picking, n. and adj.
adj.
slang (originally southern U.S.). A general term of disapproval or abuse, = ‘damned’.
1958 Post (N.Y.) 1 June M3 I don’t think it’s anybody’s cotton-pickin’ business what you’re doing.
1968 J. Philips Hot Summer Killing (1969) iii. iii. 161 You have to be a hero or out of your cotton-picking mind.
IMDb (The Internet Movie Database)
Bully for Bugs (1953)
Quotes
Bugs Bunny: Well, here I am. Hey, just a cotton-picking minute. This don’t look like the Coachella Valley to me.
Yarn
Just a cotton-picking minute.
Looney Tunes Golden Collection: Volume 1 - Bully for Bugs [S01E05]
17 November 1953, Greenville (SC) News, “Top of the Morning” by Jim Anderson, pg. 12, col. 3:
After the victory, the favorite expression with the South Carolina contingent Saturday night was, “Wait a cotton pickin’ minute!”
31 January 1954, The State Journal (Lansing, MI), “A Little Domestication Goes a Long Way” by Knight D. McKesson, pg. 17, col. 4:
Now then there, I say, wait just a cotton-picking minute.
IMDb (The Internet Movie Database)
Rabbit Romeo (1957)
Mel Blanc: Bugs Bunny
Quotes
Bugs Bunny : Wait a cotton-pickin’ minute! Women don’t chase men in America.
Google Books
The Leatherneck
Volume 45
1962
Pg. 81:
“Just a cotton-pickin’ minute,” I snorted.
Google Books
Cross-Country Chaos
By Gene Olson
Philadelphia, PA: Westminster Press,
1966
Pg. 82:
“Now just one cotton-picking minute, if you don’t mind.”
OCLC WorldCat record
Wait jest a cotton pickin’ minute
Author: Jimmy Townsend
Publisher: Franklin Springs, Ga. : Advocate Pr., 1983.
Edition/Format: Print book : English
A Way with Words
Cotton-Pickin’
Posted by grantbarrett on December 20, 2008
Remember when Bugs Bunny used to say, “Now wait just a cotton-pickin’ minute!”? A caller wants to know if cotton-pickin’ has racist overtones. This is part of a complete episode.
Twitter
T_Gibby
@T_Gibby
Exactly how long is a “cotton picking minute”?
1:34 PM · Feb 3, 2010·Twitter Web Client
Twitter
G.K. Labute
@TVcameraman1
Q: Exactly how long is a cotton picking minute? A: About 60 cotton pickin’ seconds…: http://r.meetme.com/ask/tvcameraman/2zv8yx
1:08 AM · Jan 24, 2013·MeetMe Share
Yahoo! Answers (April 7, 2014)
How long exactly is a “Cotton picking minute”?
is it 60 seconds, like a standard minute?
Best Answer: For the benefit of the above posters, a cotton-picking minute (CPM) is most definitely not equivalent to a NY minute (NYM). Anyone who lives in the State knows that a NY minute comprises less than 60 seconds. (...) A cotton-picking minute, on the otherhand, actually comprises a period of time longer than 60 seconds.
Twitter
Susan Nash
@cyforeverfan
Someone post a pic with the words.. Exactly how long is a cotton picking minute ? and i looked it up and wrote… http://fb.me/2Lc3gL8OZ
8:13 AM · May 3, 2016·Facebook
Twitter
CottonCircleFabrics
@CottonCircle
exactly how long is a cotton picking minute? http://pinterest.com/pin/199002877263441027/
1:12 PM · Jul 24, 2016·Pinterest
Google Books
Title Exactly How Long Is a Cotton Picking Minute: 2019 Weekly Planner Journal Gift for Sarcastic Southern Friends and Family
Author Spitfire Books
Publisher CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2018
ISBN 1729768385, 9781729768389
Length 104 pages
Variety
JUNE 25, 2018 5:35PM PT
Fox News Suspends David Bossie for ‘Cotton-Picking’ Remark
By TARA BITRAN
Former deputy campaign manager for Donald Trump and current outside adviser to the president David Bossie has been suspended from his role as contributor on Fox News.
(...)
But Bossie crossed a line, prompting suspension from the network, as he told Payne, who is black, that “You’re out of your cotton-picking mind.”
Twitter
mermaiddaisy
@michelle_martha
Exactly how long is a cotton picking minute?
8:12 PM · Aug 3, 2019·Twitter for iPhone