Easy pickings is an idiom that may not be as old as you think. We will examine the meaning of the common saying easy pickings, where it came from, and some examples of its idiomatic usage in sentences.
Easy pickings is a noun phrase that refers to something that is easily taken or stolen, something that is easy to get through other means, or someone who is easily persuaded. The expression easy pickings did not come into use until the turn of the twentieth century; the popularity of the idiom soared during the latter half of the 1900s. It may refer to picking pockets, or it may refer to picking something at one’s leisure. When spoken, the “g” in pickings is often dropped in the idiom easy pickings.
Examples
Miami will get healthy and turn the corner at some point, but they could be easy pickings for the red hot Nuggets tonight. (Sports Illustrated)
Hatcher, of the IRS, warned that scammers, con-artists and grifters think those payments are easy pickings. (St. Thomas Source)
The party is justifiably terrified that, in 2024, a failing President Joe Biden, or, by then, his radical successor will be easy pickings for a Trump resurgence, so Washington Democrats — and certain Republicans — are abusing the constitutional power of impeachment to prevent another Trump candidacy. (The Mercury)