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": [4]
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.
It has been suggested[ who? ] that "Cats and dogs" may come from the Greek expression 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. [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. [5]
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. [1]
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. [6] [7]
| 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 | 傾盆大雨/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 snør kattunger | it's snowing kittens | |
| 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 [8] | 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 |
| Scottish Gaelic | an t-uisge cho garbh ris na faochagan | the rain as rough as whelks |
| an dìle bhàite | the drowning deluge | |
| 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 |
The first printed use of the phrase...when English playwright Richard Brome wrote in The City Witt (1652): "It shall rain dogs and polecats."