It's cotton-picking. And careful, because you only bless hearts if you're trying to soften an insult. Like, "dumb as a box of bricks, bless her heart." And cotton-picking actually has connotations of being good-for-nothing, or worthless. "I wouldn't take your cotton-picking flowers if you were the last man on earth," being one example.
Actually, Southernisms are filled with ways to insult someone without sounding like you're insulting them. It's a very euphemistic manner of speaking, which is probably just one more thing on the list that bothers Yankees about Southerners. Along with saying "yes'm" and "no-sir" which seemed to make every Yankee I met very suspicious, like good manners means you're up to no good. Heh.
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Date: 4 Feb 2011 06:25 am (UTC)Actually, Southernisms are filled with ways to insult someone without sounding like you're insulting them. It's a very euphemistic manner of speaking, which is probably just one more thing on the list that bothers Yankees about Southerners. Along with saying "yes'm" and "no-sir" which seemed to make every Yankee I met very suspicious, like good manners means you're up to no good. Heh.