Cherry is a fruit which becomes the best part of whatever it is used in. Like the topping in the cake. It is the most desired part of the cake. When ripe they taste luscious and look beautiful. When not ripened they taste sour.
The term “Cherry Picking” means to select the best among the lot. It is like taking home the best value for the money. You shift through the lot and opt for the best and reject the one’s which are not the best.
Cherry Picking can be deliberate or accidental. For example, in many companies the results data is cherry picked. It means the management selects only part of the data which suits their assertion.
Similarly the politicians do the cherry picking of the data. They select only those portions of a report that is in the favour of their agenda. Many newspapers also do this for creating a bias among the parties.
Cherry picking is used in advertising. The results of a the studies like using a particular brand of toothpaste which protects gums are shown as “4 out of 5 ” doctors recommend it.
How does one know that the facts he is citing to back his claims is holistic not cherry picked? This is possible if he is owner of the data or the source from where he has gotten the data is trustworthy.
Nobody is sure about the origin of the phrase. Initially those ship workers which tried to get the easiest of the tasks on the ship were called Cherry Pickers. From their the use of the phrase must have been diversified over time.
Happy Cherry Picking!!!!