The Lighter Side of Cotton

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An Article Contributed by BonnieBlueFlag

The more important a subject, object or situation is to a society, the more you will find it referenced in everyday life. Take cotton and references to it for instance. Consider the phrases, the music, the famous, the unique magazines, the food and that one special day of the year...

The phrases:

• "I don't cotton to that." Meaning: not liking, not agreeing with , not supporting.
• "We were in tall cotton." Meaning: a positive and uplifting environment; stress free.
• "Bless his/her little cotton socks." Meaning: a term of endearment.
• "Fair to Middling." Meaning: everything is going o.k. Comes from a grade or class of cotton. Example: cotton is graded as inferior, ordinary, good ordinary, low middling, middling, good middling, middling fair, good fair, fine.
• "Setting Thames on fire." Meaning: The Thames was a carding machine used to dress cotton and it was activated by a handle. Someone lethargic was said not to be likely to se the machine afire because of friction.
• "Your mother wears cotton drawers." Meaning: Cotton underclothing was cheap and a sign of low class.
• "If wishes were cotton, we'd be knee deep in the stuff." Meaning: along the same lines of: "If wishes were horses..."
• "Cotton top." Meaning: a way of describing hair that is very white or so light blonde it is mistaken as white.
• "Keep your cotton-pickin' hands off." Meaning: don't touch; used as an alternative to cursing; term of derision used to denote low class distinction.

The music:

• "The Cotton Song" by Creedence Clearwater Revival
• "Cotton-eyed Joe" an American folk song
• "The Boll Weevil" by Charley Patton, sung by Woody Guthrie and Lead Belly

The famous:

• "Cotton Bowl" The college football game and stadium in Dallas Texas, since 1937.
• "The Cotton Club" A famous night club in New York City during prohibition. It featured many African-American entertainers, but few were allowed as guests into the club.
• Mixed drink: "White Cotton Panties". 1/2 oz. butterscotch schnapps, 1/2 oz. vanilla vodka.
• "Bambakophobia" Fear of cotton wool

Some of the unique magazines:

• "King Cotton Magazine"
• "Cotton Aphid Publications"
• "Land of Cotton"--an online magazine for the cotton industry
• "Cotton Made in Africa"
• "Cotton in the Net"
• "Cotton SA (South America)

The food:

• Cotton Candy. Other names for this spun sugar treat: in England = Cotton Floss, Australia = Fairy Floss, Greece and Israel = Old Woman's Hair, France = Papa's Beard.

The one special day every year: National Cotton Candy Day - December 7th.

The contents of this page are used with permission. Copyright © 2009, BonnieBlueFlag.