Meaning
What does Bold Move, Cotton mean?
Bold move, Cotton also known as Bold Strategy, Cotton refers to a quote from the comedy flick Dodgeball, that became an animal advice image macro series online.
The format is mainly used to reflect on the risky or controversial nature of a course of action, taken on by a person or a group.
The phrase on the image macros is usually displayed as “Bold move, Cotton, let’s see if it pays off.”
via MEME
Origin
What's the origin of Bold Move, Cotton?
Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story premiered in the United States on June 18th, 2004.
In one of the scenes, announcer Cotton McKnight (portrayed by Gary Michael Cole) says that one of the teams were forfeiting the championship match.
The co-announcer, Pepper Brooks (played by Jason Bateman) replies with the phrase “It’s a bold strategy, cotton. Let’s see if it pays off for them”.
Spread & Usage
How did Bold Move, Cotton spread?
The scene started to spread as a meme in February, 2012, when Quickmeme created a page for “Bold move, Cotton”.
In April, 2013, users would start posting image macros, created from the scene on the r/AdviceAnimals subreddit.
The phrase, as well as the image macro would remain popular for a long time, appearing in various Reddit threads and YouTube videos.