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. [1] The phrase (with "polecats" instead of "cats") has been used at least since the 17th century. [2] [3]
A number of possible etymologies have been put forward to explain the phrase. [4]
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": [5]
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 Katadoupoi, referring to the waterfalls on the Nile, [1] possibly through the old French word catadupe ('waterfall'). In old English, catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall.
"Cats and dogs" may come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means “contrary to experience or belief”; if it is raining cats and dogs, it is raining unusually hard. There is no evidence to support the theory that the expression was borrowed by English speakers. [1]
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. [6]
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").
Other languages have equally bizarre expressions for heavy rain. [7] [8]
| Language | Expression | English translation |
|---|---|---|
| Afan Oromo | Waaqatu baqaqe | the sky got torn |
| Afrikaans | dit reën ou meide/vrouens/anties met knopkieries | it's raining old tribal women/women/aunts with knobsticks |
| dit reën paddas en platannas | it's raining frogs and toads | |
| Albanian | po bie litarë-litarë | [rain] is falling like ropes |
| po bën Zoti shurrën | God is taking a piss | |
| po qan Zoti | God is crying | |
| Bengali | মুষলধারে বৃষ্টি পড়ছে musholdhare brishṭi poṛchhe | rain is falling like pestles |
| Bosnian | padaju ćuskije | crowbars dropping |
| lije ko iz kabla | it's pouring like from a bucket | |
| Cantonese | 落狗屎 | it's raining dog's poo |
| Chinese | 倾盆大雨 qīngpén dàyǔ | it's pouring out of basins |
| Catalan | ploure a bots i barrals | raining boats and barrels |
| Croatian | padaju sjekire | axes dropping |
| Czech | padají trakaře | falling wheelbarrows |
| leje jako z konve | rains like from a watering can | |
| Danish | regner skomagerdrenge | raining shoemakers' apprentices |
| Dutch | het regent pijpenstelen | raining pipe stems (or stair rods) |
| Dutch (Flemish) | het regent oude wijven | raining old women |
| het regent kattenjongen | raining kittens | |
| Estonian | sajab nagu oavarrest | raining like from a beanstalk |
| kallab nagu ämbrist | raining as if poured from a bucket | |
| Finnish | sataa kuin Esterin perseestä | raining like from Esteri's ass |
| sataa kuin saavista kaatamalla | raining as if poured from a bucket | |
| French | il pleut comme vache qui pisse | raining like a peeing cow |
| il pleut des seaux | raining buckets | |
| il pleut des hallebardes | raining halberds | |
| il pleut des clous | raining nails | |
| il pleut des cordes | raining ropes | |
| il pleut à boire debout | raining enough to drink standing | |
| Georgian | კოკისპირული წვიმა kokispiruli tsvima | raining like water flows from a filled koka(koka: 'water measuring tableware, jar') |
| German | es regnet junge Hunde | raining young dogs |
| es schüttet wie aus Eimern | raining like poured from buckets | |
| es regnet Bindfäden | raining strings | |
| Greek | βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα vréchei kareklopódara | raining chair legs |
| Hebrew | גשם זלעפות | stormy/raging rain |
| Hindi | मुसलधार बारिश musaldhār bārish | rain like a pestle [onto a mortar] |
| Hungarian | mintha dézsából öntenék | like poured from a vat |
| Icelandic | Það rignir eins og hellt sé úr fötu | like poured from a bucket |
| Japanese | 土砂降り doshaburi | earth and sand descending |
| Kannada | ಮುಸಲಧಾರೆ, ಕುಂಭದ್ರೋಣ ಮಳೆ | a stream of mallets |
| Italian | piove a catinelle | poured from a basin |
| Latin | urceatim pluebat | it rained from a basin |
| Latvian | līst kā no spaiņiem | it's raining like from buckets |
| Lithuanian | pila kaip iš kibiro | it's pouring like from a bucket |
| Malayalam | പേമാരി pemari | mad rain |
| Maltese | infetħu bwieb is-sema | the doors of the sky have opened |
| Marathi | मुसळधार पाउस | rain like a pestle [onto a mortar] |
| Nepali | मुसलधारे झरी | rain like a pestle [onto a mortar] |
| Norwegian | det regner trollkjerringer | raining she-trolls |
| det bøtter ned | it's bucketing down | |
| Odia | ମୂଷଳଧାରା ବର୍ଷା | rain like a pestle [onto a mortar] |
| Persian | شغال باران shoqal baran | raining jackals |
| Polish | leje jak z cebra | pouring like from a bucket |
| rzuca żabami | [the rain/it] is throwing frogs | |
| Portuguese | está chovendo canivetes | raining penknives |
| está chovendo a potes | raining by the pot load | |
| está chovendo a baldes | raining by the bucket load | |
| está chovendo a cântaros | raining by the pitcher load | |
| está chovendo a canecos | raining by the jug load | |
| está a chover chouriços [9] | it's raining chorizos | |
| Portuguese (Brazil) | chovem cobras e lagartos | raining snakes and lizards |
| está caindo um pau-d'água | a stick of water is falling | |
| está caindo um pé-d'água | a foot of water is falling | |
| Punjabi | ਨਿਆਣੇ-ਕੁੱਟ ਮੀਂਹ | rain that beats kids |
| Romanian | plouă cu broaşte | raining frogs |
| plouă de sparge | breaking with rain | |
| plouă cu găleata | raining from a bucket | |
| Russian | льет как из ведра | it's pouring like from a bucket |
| Serbian | padaju sekire | axes are falling |
| pada kao iz kabla | pouring like from a bucket | |
| Sinhalese | නාකපන්න වහිනවා | raining cats and dogs |
| Spanish | están lloviendo chuzos de punta | shortpikes/icicles point first |
| está lloviendo a cántaros | raining by the clay pot-full | |
| está cayendo la del pulpo | (the rain) is hitting us like they hit an octopus | |
| llueven sapos y culebras | raining toads and snakes | |
| Spanish (Argentina) | caen soretes de punta | pointing down turds are falling |
| Spanish (Colombia) | estan lloviendo maridos | raining husbands |
| Spanish (Venezuela) | está cayendo un palo de agua | a stick of water is falling |
| Swedish | det regnar smådjävlar | raining little devils |
| det regnar småspik | raining small nails | |
| regnet står som spön i backen | the rain stands like canes on the ground | |
| skyfall | sky fall | |
| Tamil | பேய் மழை pei mazhi | ghost rain |
| Telugu | కుండపోత వర్షం | pouring like an inverted pot |
| Thai | ฝนตกไม่ลืมหูลืมตา fon dtok mai lʉʉm huu lʉʉm dtaa | raining without opening its eyes and ears |
| Turkish | bardaktan boşanırcasına | raining like poured from a cup |
| Ukrainian | лиє, як з відра | pouring like from a bucket |
| Urdu | موسلادھار بارش | rain like a pestle [on a mortar] |
| Vietnamese | mưa như trút nước | raining as pouring a lot of water |
| Welsh | mae hi'n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn | raining old ladies and sticks |
Lexicology is the branch of linguistics that analyzes the lexicon of a specific language. A word is the smallest meaningful unit of a language that can stand on its own, and is made up of small components called morphemes and even smaller elements known as phonemes, or distinguishing sounds. Lexicology examines every feature of a word – including formation, spelling, origin, usage, and definition.
In grammar, a noun is a word that represents a concrete or abstract thing, such as living creatures, places, actions, qualities, states of existence, and ideas. A noun may serve as an object or subject within a phrase, clause, or sentence.
An idiom is a phrase or expression that usually presents a figurative, non-literal meaning attached to the phrase. Some phrases which become figurative idioms, however, do retain the phrase's literal meaning. Categorized as formulaic language, an idiom's figurative meaning is different from the literal meaning. Idioms occur frequently in all languages; in English alone there are an estimated twenty-five million idiomatic expressions.
"The whole nine yards" or "the full nine yards" is a colloquial American English phrase meaning "everything, the whole lot" or, when used as an adjective, "all the way."
Chengyu are a type of traditional Chinese idiomatic expressions, most of which consist of four Chinese characters. Chengyu were widely used in Literary Chinese and are still common in written vernacular Chinese writing and in the spoken language today. According to the most stringent definition, there are about 5,000 chengyu in the Chinese language, though some dictionaries list over 20,000. Chengyu are considered the collected wisdom of the Chinese culture, and contain the experiences, moral concepts, and admonishments from previous generations of Chinese speakers. Chengyu still play an important role in Chinese conversation and education. Chinese idioms are one of four types of formulaic expressions, which also include collocations, two-part allegorical sayings called xiehouyu, and proverbs.
Bloody, as an adjective or adverb, is an expletive attributive commonly used in British English, Irish English, and Australian English; it is also present in Canadian English, Indian English, Malaysian/Singaporean English, South African English, and a number of other Commonwealth of nations. It has been used as an intensive since at least the 1670s. Considered respectable until about 1750, it was heavily tabooed during c. 1750–1920, considered equivalent to heavily obscene or profane speech. Public use continued to be seen as controversial until the 1960s, but the word has since become a comparatively mild expletive or intensifier.
Pennsylvania Dutch English is a dialect of English that has been influenced by the Pennsylvania Dutch language. It is largely spoken in South Central Pennsylvania, both by people who are monolingual in English and bilingual in Pennsylvania Dutch and English. The dialect has been dying out, as non-Amish younger Pennsylvania Germans tend to speak General American English.
Flogging a dead horse is an idiom meaning that a particular effort is futile, being a waste of time without a positive outcome, e.g. such as flogging a dead horse, which will not compel it to do useful work.
A red herring is something that misleads or distracts from a relevant or important question. It may be either a logical fallacy or a literary device that leads readers or audiences toward a false conclusion. A red herring may be used intentionally, as in mystery fiction or as part of rhetorical strategies, or may be used in argumentation inadvertently.
"Break a leg" is a typical English idiom used in the context of theatre or other performing arts to wish a performer "good luck". An ironic or non-literal saying of uncertain origin, "break a leg" is commonly said to actors and musicians before they go on stage to perform or before an audition. Though the term likely originates in German, the English expression is first attributed in the 1930s or possibly 1920s, originally documented without specifically theatrical associations. Among professional dancers, the traditional saying is not "break a leg", but the French word merde.
In lexicography, a lexical item is a single word, a part of a word, or a chain of words (catena) that forms the basic elements of a language's lexicon (≈ vocabulary). Examples are cat, traffic light, take care of, by the way, and it's raining cats and dogs. Lexical items can be generally understood to convey a single meaning, much as a lexeme, but are not limited to single words. Lexical items are like semes in that they are "natural units" translating between languages, or in learning a new language. In this last sense, it is sometimes said that language consists of grammaticalized lexis, and not lexicalized grammar. The entire store of lexical items in a language is called its lexis.
Barking up the wrong tree is an idiomatic expression in English, which is used to suggest a mistaken emphasis in a specific context. The phrase is an allusion to the mistake made by dogs when they believe they have chased a prey up a tree, but the game may have escaped by leaping from one tree to another. The phrase means to mistake one's object, or to pursue the wrong course to obtain it.
To kick the bucket is an English idiom considered a euphemistic, informal, or slang term meaning "to die". Its origin remains unclear, though there have been several theories.
An idiom is a common word or phrase with a figurative, non-literal meaning that is understood culturally and differs from what its composite words' denotations would suggest; i.e. the words together have a meaning that is different from the dictionary definitions of the individual words. By another definition, an idiom is a speech form or an expression of a given language that is peculiar to itself grammatically or cannot be understood from the individual meanings of its elements. For example, an English speaker would understand the phrase "kick the bucket" to mean "to die" – and also to actually kick a bucket. Furthermore, they would understand when each meaning is being used in context.
Mind your Ps and Qs is an English language expression meaning "mind your manners", "mind your language", "be on your best behaviour", or "watch what you're doing".
"Cold shoulder" is a phrase used to express dismissal or the act of disregarding someone. Its origin is attributed to Sir Walter Scott in a work published in 1816, which is in fact a mistranslation of an expression from the Vulgate Bible. There is also a commonly repeated incorrect folk etymology.
"Chewing the fat" or "chew the rags" are English expressions for gossiping or making friendly small talk, or a long and informal conversation with someone.
Cats and dogs have a range of interactions. The natural instincts of each species lead towards antagonistic interactions, though individual animals can have non-aggressive relationships with each other, particularly under conditions where humans have socialized non-aggressive behaviors.
DoggoLingo is an Internet language that is created from word conversion, meme lexicon, and onomatopoeia. Emerging in the 2010s, DoggoLingo is implied to be a dog's own idiom, and is presented as a canine's thought process. Elyse Graham, assistant professor at Stony Brook University, describes DoggoLingo as "upbeat, joyful, and clueless in a relentlessly friendly way".