Special Note
As some of you may have noticed, from time to time, Idiomation seems to go dormant for periods of time. This is due in part to time considerations.
As a successful author, visual artist, musician, composer/arranger, singer-songwriter, and entrepreneur, I have to make sure when I undertake an idiom that I have the time to devote to that research. After all, you wouldn’t want to an incomplete entry on any idiom, would you?
Idiomation has been around a long time, and is a respected and reputable source of information on idioms. I will continue to ensure subscribers, readers, visitors, and newcomers can count on the entries on this blog are accurate and as detailed as possible.
Thank you for your support, and I look forward to seeing you back on this blog again.
Elyse Bruce
Owner and Author of “Idiomation: Historically Speaking”
elysebruce.com
missybarrett.com
Historically Speaking 
Amber Rice said
on march 14 2011 you posted about cotton pickin minute…in that you mention a 17 year old boy that broke the worlds record for cotton picking by hand the boy claude rice was white he is my grandfather and i have be looking for the article and keep hitting road blocks i was wondering if you could email me the article or even the date it was written so that my family may have it….if you do not still have this info that is understandable a hint on how to get it would be great thanks for all your help and my prayers are with you and your family
Elyse Bruce said
Hi Amber! I enjoyed reading your comment about your grandfather. It’s been over a year since the “Cotton Pickin’ Minute” entry was written, and so I don’t have the link to the newspaper article any more. What I can tell you is that in that same edition of the “Clay County Courier” newspaper, it was announced that Rube P. Barham was the new postmaster at O’Kean in Randolph county, and that his predecessor was R.W. Cupp. Charlie Skaggs has sold his store to Tom McGuire, and Herbert Guest bought the old Buncombe school house which he intended to use as a Church.
I’d suggest contacting North Carolina Digital Heritage Center at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill or online at http://www.digitalnc.org. They have a number of newspapers scanned and may be able to help track down the article about your grandfather.
You may want to start by contacting Maggie Dickson who is the current Digital Projects Librarian. Her email address is mdickson@email.unc.edu.
I’m hoping you can find the article, and you’re always welcome to return and post additional information on your grandfather to the “Cotton Pickin’ Minute” entry of March 14, 2011.
Philip Hudson said
Elyse Bruce:
I just happened upon this forum. I will pray for your son. You have some very good information here, but you do not seem to have a way for the reader to readily find the entries. They are recorded by date and the list of entries does not take one to an actual entry. Am I missing something here or have you just not gotten around to creating links to the actual discussion of an idiom?
Karen Lynne Klink said
I would like to know if a particular idiom was used in the 19th century, so it would be handy if the idioms were listed so one could search for them. Although maybe this is asking for too much on a blog. I’m trying to find out if “Daddy” was used in the 19th century.
Elyse Bruce said
The idioms are listed in “A-Z OF ENTRIES” and are currently being linked up, to make it easier for readers and visitors to click through to specific entries.
Additionally, we have the SEARCH function on the right hand side. Just scroll down to find it, and search as you usually would.
Thanks for visiting the Idiomation site, Karen, and thanks for leaving a comment.
Pamela James Glover said
this is a treasure trove. i’m tryng to find the meanings of two idioms i ran across in 17th century writing: shoot your bolt (to speak hastily, I think) and “put to the blush” (i think it means shamed) . they’re from Matthew Henry’ Commentary on the bible. thanks.