- published: 23 May 2014
- views: 624195
"Mother of all..." has become a stock phrase in English-language public discourse and popular culture. It implies the largest or most significant example of a class, which completely overshadows all other cases in the class. For example, "the mother of all battles" would imply the largest, most destructive, most significant battle ever fought.
The phrase "the mother of all..." was popularized in recent years, though not introduced, by Saddam Hussein, then President of Iraq, after the invasion of Kuwait in 1990. Bulletins to Iraqi citizens advised them to prepare for an invasion and "the mother of all battles" promised in a speech "the mother of all battles" if the US-led coalition forces attempted to evict his army of occupation from Kuwait. The phrase "mother of all battles" in this instance was a translation of the Arabic expression Umm al-Ma'arik. This is a common trope in Arabic public rhetoric. As Saddam's audience would have understood, it refers to the Battle of al-Qādisiyyah in AD 637, when an Arab army defeated the Persians.
A mother (or mum/mom) is a woman who has raised a child, given birth to a child, and/or supplied the ovum that united with a sperm which grew into a child. Because of the complexity and differences of a mother's social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it is challenging to specify a universally acceptable definition for the term. The male equivalent is a father.
From Middle English moder, From Latin māter (“mother”), partly via late-Middle English matere. from Old English mōdor, from Proto-Germanic *mōdēr (cf. East Frisian muur, Dutch moeder, German Mutter), from Proto-Indo-European *méh₂tēr (cf. Irish máthair, Tocharian A mācar, B mācer, Lithuanian mótė). Cognates include Common Slavic *mati (thence Russian мать (mat’)), Persian مادر (madar), Mycenaean Greek 𐀔𐀳𐀩 (ma-te-re), and Sanskrit मातृ (mātṛ).
In the case of a mammal such as a human, a pregnant woman gestates a fertilized ovum. A fetus develops from the viable fertilized ovum or "embryo." Gestation occurs in the woman's uterus from conception until the fetus (assuming it is carried to term) is sufficiently developed to be born. The woman experiences labor and gives birth. Usually, once the baby is born, the mother produces milk via the lactation process. The mother's breast milk is the source of anti-bodies for the infant's immune system and commonly the sole source of nutrition for the first year or more of the child's life.
True hell
Is walking in a blind mans world
with open eyes
Greed feeds
Greed needs
Demand it all
Watch your mother die
It's the same old story
We've heard it all before
It's me myself and I which counts
I dream...
Remove the blindfolds
Before we kill the mother of all
There she goes
The mother of all
Quadrat architecture keeps the peace
Eyes inside a casual peek
A hasty look then the eyelids close
Won't watch our mother die
It's the same old story
We've heard it before
And deep inside of my depressive self
I bleed...
Remove the blindfolds
before we kill the mother of all
There she goes
The mother of all
Our mother is crying
and all her children too
Our mother is dying