The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #13537 Message #1949344
Posted By: Q (Frank Staplin)
26-Jan-07 - 11:36 PM
Thread Name: Origins: Cotton-eyed Joe-true story/composite?
Subject: RE: Origins: Cotton-eyed Joe-true story/composite?
'cotton-eyed' appeared in "Dialect Notes" in 1905. Southern provenance.
Steinbeck used it in his novel, "East of Eden," 1952.
I have heard it off and on in both south and west.
Defined as having the whites of the eyes prominent.
(Posted before, I think this thread).
Reference- J. E. Lighter, Historical Dictionary of American Slang, vol. 1, p. 491.