Who coined the phrase “the mother load” and what did it reference?
While the term “mother load” has spawned many a pun, not to mention a band name or two, you’re probably referring to its homophone, “mother lode.” A lode is a metallic vein, especially of silver or gold, that fills a fissure in a rock formation. The word “mother” is used in an adjectival sense, as in relating to something’s source or origin. Thus, “mother lode” was originally a prospecting or mining term, referring to the area where gold is “trapped inside of veins of quartz on mountainsides.” The mother of mother lodes was a vast area in Central California, east of the Sacr
