pickin' and grinnin'

English

Alternative forms

• picking and grinning

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Noun

pickin' and grinnin' (uncountable)

1. (chiefly US, music, idiomatic) Vigorous playing of folk or country music on a stringed musical instrument, especially the guitar or banjo, while smiling broadly.
   • 1987 March 20, Scott Mervis, “Country Slickers”, in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, retrieved 3 Jan. 2009, page 19:

     From Kenny Rogers and Ronnie Milsap there was a lot less pickin’ and grinnin’ and a lot more soft rockers and heartbroken love ballads.

   • 2008 June 25, Joe Edwards, “Guitar-playing 'ambassador' greets visitors at Nashville's Hall of Fame”, in USA Today, retrieved 3 Jan. 2009:

     In this city of guitars and grits, Andersen is the ambassador of pickin’ and grinnin’.