mother's little helper

8.9

A small thing that helps a parent get through the day, like a drink, medicine, or tool

noun
/ˈmʌðərz ˈlɪtəl ˈhɛlpər/

NSFW

: ayudante de mamá

After a long day, she joked that a cup of coffee was her mother's little helper.

Examples

He called his smartphone his mother's little helper because it kept him organized and on schedule.
Some parents refer to pain relief tablets as their mother's little helper during stressful times.
Coffee is my mother's little helper in the morning.
Many parents consider wine to be a mother's little helper.
He relies on coffee as a mother's little helper to get through his busy mornings.
A well-organized planner can be a mother's little helper for managing daily chores.
Some people use meditation as a mother's little helper to relieve stress during hectic weeks.

Synonyms

little helper

vsmother's little helper

5 3.2

A person or thing that makes a task easier

is a humorous domestic term for gadgets or drugs easing daily life

Antonyms

burden

482 3.4

A heavy load or something that causes worry and difficulty

hindrance

21 5.7

A thing that makes it difficult to do something, like an injury or traffic

Surface Forms

mother's little helper singular

mother's little helpers plural

Morphology

mother's + little + helper

The phrase literally reads as 'a small helper for a mother,' so a learner who knows 'mother,' 'little,' and 'helper' can grasp a basic sense of something that assists a mother. However, the idiomatic/euphemistic nuance (often referring to a drug or a culturally specific domestic aid) is not predictable from the parts and requires prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.

Etymology

Mother's little helper comes from the 1960s, when many busy mothers took small calming pills to get through the day. That's why the term is used jokingly for any tool, drink, or drug that 'helps with daily tasks'.