In the dictionary, mother has several definitions. Apart from being the woman who gives birth to a child, mother is an institution from which others of the same type derive – such as the mother company. It is also an extreme example or very large specimen of something, such as the mother of all traffic jams.
A mother country is the land of one’s birth, to most people (except to Germans who call their country the fatherland). I read recently that fatherland suggests ‘government and order’ while motherland implies ‘birth and nurturing’. Your mother tongue is the first language you learn as a child.
Mother wit means native practical intelligence or common sense. The motherboard in a computer, through which signals between all other boards are routed, may be so-called because it is often the mother that keeps communications open between family members.
Mother’s ruin is an old British name for gin, dating back to the mid-18th century, when gin became the poor man’s drink. In London, the government became alarmed when it was found that the average Londoner drank 14 gallons of spirit each year! It was thought to be a medicine, a cure for gout and indigestion, and workers were sometimes given gin as part of their wages. Mothers drank gin to ease the pain of hunger, poverty, and depression.
Finally, to be mother means ‘to pour the tea’. To be the hostess, supplying the refreshments, nurturing everyone around – often making sure everyone has a cuppa, or something to eat, or be included. My mother was certainly one of these mothers.
Happy Mother’s Day, and Happy Puzzling!
