Raining Animals - "Raining Cats and Dogs"

"Raining Cats and Dogs"

The English idiom "it is raining cats and dogs", used to describe an especially heavy rain, is of unknown etymology, and is not necessarily related to the "raining animals" phenomenon. The phrase (with "polecats" instead of "cats") was used at least since the 17th century. A number of improbable folk etymologies have been put forward to explain the phrase, for example:

• An "explanation" widely circulated by email claimed that in 16th-century Europe when peasant homes were commonly thatched, animals could crawl into the thatch and find shelter from the elements, and would fall out during heavy rain. However, there seems to be no evidence in support of either assertion.
• Drainage systems on buildings in 17th century Europe were poor, and may have disgorged their contents during heavy showers, including the corpses of any animals that had accumulated in them. This occurrence is documented in Jonathan Swift's 1710 poem 'Description of a City Shower', in which he describes "Drowned puppies, stinking sprats, all drenched in mud,/Dead cats and turnip-tops come tumbling down the flood."
• "Cats and dogs" may be a corruption of the Greek word Katadoupoi, referring to the waterfalls on the Nile, possibly through the old French word catadupe ("waterfall").
• The Greek phrase "kata doksa", which means "contrary to expectation" is often applied to heavy rain, but there is no evidence to support the theory that it was borrowed by English speakers.

There may not be a logical explanation; the phrase may have been used just for its nonsensical humor value, like other equivalent English expressions ("it is raining pitchforks", "hammer handles", etc.).

Other languages have equally bizarre expressions for heavy rain:

• Afrikaans: ou vrouens met knopkieries reen ("old women with clubs")
• Bengali: মুষলধারে বৃষ্টি পড়ছে musholdhare brishṭi poṛchhe ("in a stream of mallets")
• Bosnian: padaju ćuskije ("crowbars")
• Bosnian: lije ko iz kabla ("it's pouring like from a bucket")
• Cantonese: "落狗屎" ("dog poo")
• Chinese: "倾盆大雨" ("its pouring out of basins")
• Catalan: Ploure a bots i barrals ("boats and barrels")
• Czech: padají trakaře ("wheelbarrows")
• Czech: leje jako z konve ("like from a watering can")
• Danish: det regner skomagerdrenge ("shoemakers' apprentices")
• Dutch: het regent pijpenstelen ("pipe stems or stair rods")
• Dutch (Flemish): het regent oude wijven ("old women")
• Dutch (Flemish): het regent kattenjongen ("kittens")
• Faroese : Tað regnar av grind ("Pilot whales")
• Finnish: Sataa kuin Esterin perseestä ("It's raining like from Esteri's ass")
• French: il pleut comme vache qui pisse ("it is raining like a peeing cow")
• French: il pleut des hallebardes ("it is raining halberds"), clous ("nails"), or cordes ("ropes")
• German: Es regnet junge Hunde ("young dogs")
• Greek: βρέχει καρεκλοπόδαρα ("chair legs")
• Hindi: musaldhār bārish ("a stream of mallets")
• Hungarian: mintha dézsából öntenék ("like poured from a vat")
• Icelandic: Það rignir eins og hellt sé úr fötu ("like poured from a bucket")
• Italian: piove a catinelle ("poured from a basin")
• Irish: tá sé ag caitheamh sceana gréasaí ("cobblers knives")
• Nepali: मुसलधारे झरी ("a stream of mallets")
• Norwegian: det regner trollkjerringer ("she-trolls")
• Polish: pada żabami ("frogs")
• Portuguese: está a chover canivetes ("penknives")
• Portuguese: Chove a potes ("It is raining by the pot load")
• Portuguese: Chove a cântaros ("It is raining by the jug load")
• Romanian: plouă cu broaşte ("frogs")
• Russian: льет как из ведра ("from a bucket")
• Spanish: están lloviendo chuzos de punta ("shortpikes/icicles point first" - not only is it raining a lot, but it's so cold and windy that being hit by the drops hurts)
• Spanish: está lloviendo a cántaros ("by the clay pot-full")
• Spanish: llueven sapos y culebras ("toads and snakes")
• Spanish (Argentina): caen soretes de punta ("pieces of dung head-first")
• Spanish (Venezuela): esta cayendo un palo de agua ("a stick of water is falling")
• Serbian: padaju sekire ("axes")
• Swedish: regnet står som spön i backen ("the rain stands like poles out of the ground")
• Turkish: bardaktan boşanırcasına ("like poured from a cup")
• Urdu: musladhār bārish ("a stream of mallets")
• Welsh: mae hi'n bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn ("old ladies and sticks")