"Mother of all X"

[Dave Wilton]

> On Tue, 25 Mar 2003, David Colburn wrote:
>
> > Anyone know the origins of the "mother of all" usage that
> > seems so trendy these days? (Or should I say, Anyone know
> > the mother of all "mother of all" phrases?)
>
> Very early, at least 15th century.

Really? The current slang sense is distinctly different from the older
sense. All the citations in the OED refer to the progenitor of something.
The current slang usage means the biggest or otherwise superlative. The
current slang sense does indeed stem from the first gulf war.

I'm speaking of English language uses. I can't speak to Arabic ones.