“the mother of all battles”

[Jonathan Lighter]

Nobody in the media says "the grandaddy of all Xs" anymore.

Just "the mother of all Xs."

JL

On Sat, Mar 5, 2011 at 2:47 PM, Wilson Gray <hwgray at gmail.com> wrote:

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> Poster:       Wilson Gray <hwgray at GMAIL.COM>
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>
> In BE, we wouldn't say the above. Rather, we'd say
>
> "battle's mama"
>
> with what I assume to be the same meaning as Saddam's phrase. That is,
> "X's mama" is the most impressive positive or negative example of X
> that can be imagined, whether in fact, in jest or, as in Saddam's
> example, exaggeration for effect. The more mature among us may recall
> the Hall-of-Fame basketballer, Bob McAdoo, who had foot's mama. He
> wore, IIRC, size-22 chucks. A woman who has "back" may be said to
> possess "(be)hind's / hips' /ass's /etc.'s mama." Perhaps not so
> elegant as "the mother of all (be)hinds," etc. But, WTF? Good enough
> for government work.
>
> --
> -Wilson
> -----
> All say, "How hard it is that we have to die!"---a strange complaint
> to come from the mouths of people who have had to live.
> -Mark Twain
>
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