What is Eli Whitney?
1.
Just as every child learns throughout his/her childhood that Eli Whitney invented the cotton gin and nothing else of importance about it, "Eli Whitney" is a phrase used to indicate a repetitive thing of little to no importance.
Gary went to a party expecting plently of attractive females, but was dissappointed to find that fugly chicks were the Eli Whitney of the party.
OR
Dude 1: I walked 4 miles today!
Dude 2: Fucking Eli Whitney.
See