An example of an extended metaphor used in popular science writing:
"At this stage, each cell in the female embryo switches off one of its two X chromosomes randomly. This requires a fleeting but intense physical relationship between the pair of X chromosomes in an a cell. For just a couple of hours the two two X chromosomes are physically associated in a brief encounter that ends with one being inactivated. … This is the mother of all one-night stands. In those two hours, chromosomal decisions get made which are then maintained for the rest of life. … It's is still not entirely clear what happens during the hours of X chromosome intimacy in early development."
Nessa Carey (2015) Junk DNA. A journey through the dark matter of the genome. London: Icon Books Ltd.
The term 'mother of all one-night stands' requires two levels of interpretation. The metaphor with a one-off sexual relationship (a one-night stand) is enhanced by the reference 'mother of all' which by incorporating 'all' has become an idiom meaning an extreme case or example, rather than just its previous metaphoric meaning (as in "necessity is the mother of invention").
Read about communicating science through idioms
