raining cats and dogs

{{Short description|Idiom in English used to describe heavy rain}}

File:George Cruikshank - Very unpleasant Weather (retouched).jpg illustrating the phrase "raining cats and dogs" (and "pitchforks")]] {{Wiktionary|rain cats and dogs}}

The English-language idiom "raining cats and dogs" or "raining dogs and cats" is used to describe particularly heavy rain. It is of unknown etymology and is not necessarily related to the raining animals phenomenon.{{cite web | author=Anatoly Liberman | url=http://blog.oup.com/2007/03/raining_cats_an/ | title=Raining Cats and Dogs | website=Oxford University Press | date=21 March 2007 | access-date=10 July 2024}} The phrase (with "polecats" instead of "cats") has been used at least since the 17th century.Richard Brome (1652), The City Witt: "It shall rain dogs and polecats."

{{cite web | author=Robert Laurence | url=http://www.allaboutstuff.com/critters/Raining_Cats_And_Dogs.asp | title=Raining Cats And Dogs | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091006051300/http://www.allaboutstuff.com/Critters/Raining_Cats_And_Dogs.asp | archive-date=2009-10-06 | url-status=dead | access-date=2009-07-28 | website=All About Stuff | quote=The first printed use of the phrase...when English playwright Richard Brome wrote in The City Witt (1652): "It shall rain dogs and polecats."}}

Etymology

A number of possible etymologies have been put forward to explain the phrase.

[http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining%20cats%20and%20dogs.html Raining cats and dogs] Phrase Finder. Accessed 2009-07-28.

One possible explanation involves the drainage systems on buildings in 17th-century Europe, which were poor and may have disgorged their contents, including the corpses of any animals that had accumulated in them, during heavy showers. This occurrence is described in Jonathan Swift's 1710 poem "Description of a City Shower":

{{Poem quote|text=Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud,

Dead cats and turnip-tops come tumbling down the flood.}}

Another explanation is that "cats and dogs" may be a corruption of the Greek word {{Lang|grc-latn|Katadoupoi}}, referring to the waterfalls on the Nile, possibly through the old French word {{Lang|fro|catadupe}} ('waterfall'). In old English, {{Lang|ang|catadupe}} meant a cataract or waterfall.

It has been suggested{{who|date=December 2024}} that "Cats and dogs" may come from the Greek expression {{Lang|grc-latn|kata doxa}}, which means "contrary to experience or belief"; if it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining unusually hard. However, there is no evidence to support the theory that the expression was borrowed by English speakers.

An online rumor largely circulated through email claimed that, in 16th-century Europe, animals could crawl into the thatch of peasant homes to seek shelter from the elements and would fall out during heavy rain. However, no evidence has been found in support of the claim.

{{cite web|year=2007|title=Life in the 1500s|url=http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.asp|publisher=Snopes.com}}

Another possibility is the phrase is a truncated version of the 1592 sentence "Instead of thunderboltes shooteth nothing but dogboltes or catboltes". Dogbolts being a term for iron bolts for securing a door or gate and catbolts being a term for the bolts for fastening together pieces of timber.

There may not be a logical explanation; the phrase may have been used just for its nonsensical humor value, or to describe particularly heavy rainfall, like other equivalent English expressions ("raining pitchforks", "raining hammer handles").

Equivalent expressions in other languages

Other languages have equally bizarre expressions for heavy rain.

[http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=283242&page=3 WordReference.com Language Forums], accessed on 2009-07-28.

[http://www.omniglot.com/language/idioms/rain.php It's raining cats and dogs] at Omniglot.com. Accessed through Google's cache on 2009-07-28.

class="wikitable"

!Language

!Expression

!English translation

Afan Oromo

|{{Lang|om|Waaqatu baqaqe}}

|the sky got torn

rowspan="2" |Afrikaans

|{{Lang|af|dit reën ou [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/meid#Afrikaans meide]/vrouens/anties met knopkieries}}

|it's raining old tribal women/women/aunts with knobsticks

{{Lang|af|dit reën paddas en platannas}}

|it's raining frogs and toads

rowspan="3" |Albanian

|{{Lang|sq|po bie litarë-litarë}}

|[rain] is falling like ropes

{{Lang|sq|po bën Zoti shurrën}}

|God is taking a piss

{{Lang|sq|po qan Zoti}}

|God is crying

Bengali

|{{Lang|bn|মুষলধারে বৃষ্টি পড়ছে}}

{{Transliteration|bn|musholdhare brishṭi poṛchhe}}

|rain is falling like pestles

rowspan="2" |Bosnian

|{{Lang|bs|padaju ćuskije}}

|crowbars dropping

{{Lang|bs|lije ko iz kabla}}

|it's pouring like from a bucket

Cantonese

|{{Lang|yue|落狗屎}}

|it's raining dog's poo

Chinese

|{{lang|zh-hant|傾盆大雨}}/{{Lang|zh-hans|倾盆大雨}}

{{Transliteration|zh|qīngpén dàyǔ}}

|it's pouring out of basins

Catalan

|{{Lang|ca|ploure a bots i barrals}}

|raining boats and barrels

Croatian

|{{Lang|hr|padaju sjekire}}

|axes dropping

rowspan="2" |Czech

|{{Lang|cs|padají trakaře}}

|falling wheelbarrows

{{Lang|cs|leje jako z konve}}

|rains like from a watering can

Danish

|{{Lang|da|regner skomagerdrenge}}

|raining shoemakers' apprentices

Dutch

|{{Lang|nl|het regent pijpenstelen}}

|raining pipe stems (or stair rods)

rowspan="2" |Dutch (Flemish)

|{{Lang|nl|het regent oude wijven}}

|raining old women

{{Lang|nl|het regent kattenjongen}}

|raining kittens

rowspan="2" |Estonian

|{{Lang|et|sajab nagu oavarrest}}

|raining like from a beanstalk

kallab nagu ämbrist

|raining as if poured from a bucket

rowspan="2" |Finnish

|{{Lang|fi|sataa kuin Esterin perseestä}}

|raining like from Esteri's ass

{{Lang|fi|sataa kuin saavista kaatamalla}}

|raining as if poured from a bucket

rowspan="6" |French

|{{Lang|fr|il pleut comme vache qui pisse}}

|raining like a peeing cow

{{Lang|fr|il pleut des seaux}}

|raining buckets

{{Lang|fr|il pleut des hallebardes}}

|raining halberds

{{Lang|fr|il pleut des clous}}

|raining nails

{{Lang|fr|il pleut des cordes}}

|raining ropes

{{Lang|fr|il pleut à boire debout}}

|raining enough to drink standing

Georgian

|{{Lang|ka|კოკისპირული წვიმა}}

{{Transliteration|ka|kokispiruli tsvima}}

|raining like water flows from a filled {{Transliteration|ka|koka}}(koka: 'water measuring tableware, jar')

rowspan="3" |German

|{{Lang|de|es regnet junge Hunde}}

|raining young dogs

{{Lang|de|es schüttet wie aus Eimern}}

|raining like poured from buckets

{{Lang|de|es regnet Bindfäden}}

|raining strings

Greek

|{{Lang|el|βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα}}

{{Transliteration|el|vréchei kareklopódara}}

|raining chair legs

Hebrew

|{{Lang|he|גשם זלעפות}}

|stormy/raging rain

Hindi

|{{Lang|hi|मुसलधार बारिश}}

{{Transliteration|hi|musaldhār bārish}}

|rain like a pestle [onto a mortar]

Hungarian

|{{Lang|hu|mintha dézsából öntenék}}

|like poured from a vat

Icelandic

|{{Lang|is|Það rignir eins og hellt sé úr fötu}}

|like poured from a bucket

Japanese

|{{Nihongo2|土砂降り}}

{{Nihongo3

|doshaburi}}

|earth and sand descending

Kannada

|{{Lang|kn|ಮುಸಲಧಾರೆ, ಕುಂಭದ್ರೋಣ ಮಳೆ}}

|a stream of mallets

Italian

|{{Lang|it|piove a catinelle}}

|poured from a basin

Latin

|{{Lang|la|urceatim pluebat}}

|it rained from a basin

Latvian

|{{Lang|lv|līst kā no spaiņiem}}

|it's raining like from buckets

Lithuanian

|{{Lang|lt|pila kaip iš kibiro}}

|it's pouring like from a bucket

Malayalam

|{{Lang|ml|പേമാരി}}

{{Transliteration|ml|pemari}}

|mad rain

Maltese

|infetħu bwieb is-sema

|the doors of the sky have opened

Marathi

|{{Lang|mr|मुसळधार पाउस}}

|rain like a pestle [onto a mortar]

Nepali

|{{Lang|ne|मुसलधारे झरी}}

|rain like a pestle [onto a mortar]

rowspan="2" |Norwegian

|{{Lang|no|det regner trollkjerringer}}

|raining she-trolls

det snør kattunger

|it's snowing kittens

Odia

|{{Lang|or|ମୂଷଳଧାରା ବର୍ଷା}}

|rain like a pestle [onto a mortar]

Persian

|{{Lang|fa|شغال باران}}

{{Transliteration|fa|shoqal baran}}

|raining jackals

rowspan="2" |Polish

|{{Lang|pl|leje jak z cebra}}

|pouring like from a bucket

{{Lang|pl|rzuca żabami}}

|[the rain/it] is throwing frogs

rowspan="6" |Portuguese

|{{Lang|pt|está chovendo canivetes}}

|raining penknives

{{Lang|pt|está chovendo a potes}}

|raining by the pot load

{{Lang|pt|está chovendo a baldes}}

|raining by the bucket load

{{Lang|pt|está chovendo a cântaros}}

|raining by the pitcher load

{{Lang|pt|está chovendo a canecos}}

|raining by the jug load

{{Lang|pt|está a chover chouriços{{cite web |last1=cãoazul |title=TÁ A CHUBER CHOURIÇAS |url=http://www.caoazul.com/loja/media-sociedade-chuber-chourias-p-2180.html |website=Loja/Store cãoazul |publisher=cãoazul |access-date=4 May 2023 |ref=9}}}}

|it's raining chorizos

rowspan="3" |Portuguese (Brazil)

|{{Lang|pt-br|chovem cobras e lagartos}}

|raining snakes and lizards

{{Lang|pt-br|está caindo um pau-d'água}}

|a stick of water is falling

{{Lang|pt-br|está caindo um pé-d'água}}

|a foot of water is falling

Punjabi

|{{Lang|pa|ਨਿਆਣੇ-ਕੁੱਟ ਮੀਂਹ}}

|rain that beats kids

rowspan="3" |Romanian

|{{Lang|ro|plouă cu broaşte}}

|raining frogs

{{Lang|ro|plouă de sparge}}

|breaking with rain

{{Lang|ro|plouă cu găleata}}

|raining from a bucket

Russian

|{{Lang|ru|льет как из ведра}}

|it's pouring like from a bucket

rowspan="2" |Scottish Gaelic

|{{Lang|gd|an t-uisge cho garbh ris na faochagan}}

|the rain as rough as whelks

{{Lang|gd|an dìle bhàite}}

|the drowning deluge

rowspan="2" |Serbian

|{{Lang|sr|padaju sekire}}

|axes are falling

{{Lang|sr|pada kao iz kabla}}

|pouring like from a bucket

Sinhalese

|{{Lang|si|නාකපන්න වහිනවා}}

|raining cats and dogs

rowspan="4" |Spanish

|{{Lang|es|están lloviendo chuzos de punta}}

|shortpikes/icicles point first

{{Lang|es|está lloviendo a cántaros}}

|raining by the clay pot-full

{{Lang|es|está cayendo la del pulpo}}

|(the rain) is hitting us like they hit an octopus

{{Lang|es|llueven sapos y culebras}}

|raining toads and snakes

Spanish (Argentina)

|{{Lang|es|caen soretes de punta}}

|pointing down turds are falling

Spanish (Colombia)

|{{Lang|es|estan lloviendo maridos}}

|raining husbands

Spanish (Venezuela)

|{{Lang|es|está cayendo un palo de agua}}

|a stick of water is falling

rowspan="4" |Swedish

|{{Lang|sv|det regnar smådjävlar}}

|raining little devils

{{Lang|sv|det regnar småspik}}

|raining small nails

{{Lang|sv|regnet står som spön i backen}}

|the rain stands like canes on the ground

{{Lang|sv|skyfall}}

|sky fall

Tamil

|{{Lang|ta|பேய் மழை}}

{{Transliteration|ta|pei mazhi}}

|ghost rain

Telugu

|{{Lang|te|కుండపోత వర్షం}}

|pouring like an inverted pot

Thai

|ฝนตกไม่ลืมหูลืมตา

{{Transliteration|th|fon dtok mai lʉʉm huu lʉʉm dtaa}}

|raining without opening its eyes and ears

Turkish

|{{Lang|tr|bardaktan boşanırcasına}}

|raining like poured from a cup

Ukrainian

|{{Lang|uk|лиє, як з відра}}

|pouring like from a bucket

Urdu

|{{Lang|ur|موسلادھار بارش}}

|rain like a pestle [on a mortar]

Vietnamese

|{{Lang|vi|mưa như trút nước}}

|raining as pouring a lot of water

Welsh

|{{Lang|cy|mae hi'n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn}}

|raining old ladies and sticks

See also

References