[7][8][9][1] According to NPR's podcast Code Switch, the phrase has variations in many other languages and cultures, is often used as a light-hearted comment or joke regarding being late, and may have first been used in 1914 by The Chicago Defender newspaper.
[11] The expression has been referenced numerous times in various types of media, including the films Friday Foster, The Best Man, Bamboozled, Undercover Brother, Let's Do It Again, House Party, BlacKkKlansman, and several television series: The Mindy Project, Prison Break, The Boondocks, The Wire, Weeds, Where My Dogs At?, Reno 911!, 30 Rock, Everybody Hates Chris, A Different World, The PJs, Bridezillas, Mad TV, Cedric the Entertainer Presents, In Living Color, Empire, F is for Family, and reality series The Real Housewives of Atlanta.
"[14]: 328 On April 9, 2016, in a staged joke skit at that year's annual Inner Circle dinner, Mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio said he'd been operating on "C.P.
The actor Leslie Odom Jr., then starring in the Broadway show Hamilton, then replied "I don't like jokes like that, Bill," after which Clinton delivered the punch line that CPT stood for "cautious politician time."
This skit was widely criticized, with The Root calling it "cringeworthy" while the conservative outlet TownHall pointed to a double standard that, "It's only racist if Republicans do it.