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Joined: May 2000
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stranger
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OP
stranger
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 10 |
Does anyone have an idea of when the expression "mother of all" came into common usage in American English? For example, Hurricane Andrew was the mother of all hurricanes. Seems to me it's a fairly recent addition.
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
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I first heard it when Saddam Hussien referred to "the mother of all wars". I assumed its use, in english, originated there.
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 819 |
I think it might also be connected to the Catholic prayer, "Holy Mary, mother of god, the lord is with thee," which predates Hussein by a long way.
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60
journeyman
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journeyman
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 60 |
Definitely not that recent, Keiva. My own sister roasted a huge Thanksgiving turkey, only to be stood up by another sister and her spouse, leaving sister #1 to eat the "mother of a turkey" alone. That was in the 70's, and it wasn't a new expression then. Sister #2 still talks about it.
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
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<sigh> why don't we just assign it to Eve, the mother of us all?
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Joined: Dec 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
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Interesting, tsuwm. Quite a woman she was.
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Definitely not that recent, Keiva. [Keller] My own sister roasted a huge Thanksgiving turkey, only to be stood up by another sister and her spouse, leaving sister #1 to eat the "mother of a turkey".
Agreed that that phrase is older (and I believe it's a polite abbreviation for mother-f*cker), meaning "one hell of a big-'un".
But I don't think it's the same as "the mother of all _____". For example, your neighbor might also have another mother of a turkey on his table, another big-'un. That is, several turkeys could be "a mother of a turkey"; none is unique. In contrast, "mother of all wars" implies (to me) a unique war, unlike any other. Thus, one speaks of "a mother of a turkey", but "the mother of all wars".
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Joined: Nov 2000
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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(and I believe it's a polite abbreviation for mother-f*cker)
Sorry Kieva but I knew "mother of all" before I ever even *heard the f-word ... let alone knew what it meant!
I think tsuwm (as usual) is on the right track - the Mother Of All is Eve - the Original - the Unequaled !
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Joined: Aug 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Ann - in the same sense, with "the mother of all __" being a different concept than "a mother of a ___"?
If so, that is very interesting, because it suggests that the "mother of all" idiom occurs both in english and in persian -- not just something that english recently picked up from Saddam's usage.
Any idea of how the two languages, shall we say, cross-fertilized?
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Joined: Jan 2001
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Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
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Posts: 13,858 |
Like Keiva, I never heard the expression, until it was attributed to Saddam Hussein. I suspect it was a reporter's tranlation of an Arabic phrase.
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