Raining very heavily; excessive downpour

Etymology:

  • It’s a popular phrase and there are many theories that are related to its origin, particularly, in England back in the middle of 18th. Norse Mythology illustrates it in which dogs were used to be associated with windy storms and cats were used to be linked with rain. Similarly, in Britain during the 18th and 19th, torrential downpours and excessive floods drowned numerous cats and dogs. Their bodies were on the streets of England as if they rained directly from the sky.
  • Hebrew מבול גשם שק'ע maBooL GeSHeM SHQi3a = torrent rain descends, anciently sounded like maBooL Ge[T]eM [T]oQi[G]a  PoLeCaT aNd DoCGa  (raining) cats and dogs. Docga was Old English for a 4-legged dog.
  • The Pennsylvania Dutch say “raining cats and ducks” because they use the German word Hund for a dog.
  • Compare Hebrew maBooL, Pre-Greek ómbros ‘storm of rain’ and Latin imber ‘rain(storm)’.
48 Views

A man just walked in soaking wet and said it's raining cats and dogs out there!

Submitted on April 28, 2014

Modified by TriplePurple on March 18, 2024

Translation

Find a translation for the raining cats and dogs phrase in other languages:

regnet Katzen und Hunde

chovendo cães e gatos

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