pick a quarrel

Idioms  

1. Also,. Seek an opportunity to quarrel or argue with someone. For example, I don't want to pick a quarrel with you, or Jason was always in trouble for picking fights. These terms use pick in the sense of “select.” [Mid-1400s]

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Example Sentences

Pick a quarrel," said he, "with Thordis about the milk-kettle, and do thou hold on to it until you whelm it over between you.

From The Life and Death of Cormac the Skald by Collingwood, W. G. (William Gershom)