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Download QR code; Print/export ... Idioms from non-English cultures (4 C, 7 P) L. Legal idioms (3 P) M. Metaphors referring to animals (16 C, 31 P)
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]
The idiom is based on the popular understanding of the elevated place of cows in Hinduism and appears to have emerged in America in the late 19th century. [2] [3] [4] [5]A literal sacred cow or sacred bull is an actual cow or bull that is treated with sincere respect.
An identical phrase, used to express impossibilities, exists in Romanian, Când o zbura porcul, literally meaning "When the pig shall fly"; an equivalent also implying an animal is La PaČ™tele cailor, literally: "on horses' Easter". The Latin expression ad kalendas graecas "to the Greek calends" The German "Wenn Schweine fliegen können!"
Some are more equal than others (George Orwell, Animal Farm) Sometimes we are the student. Sometimes we are the master. And sometimes we are merely the lesson – Jacalyn Smith; Spare the rod and spoil the child; Speak as you find; Speak of the devil and he shall/is sure/will appear; Speak softly and carry a big stick
Glossary of English-language idioms derived from baseball; Bed of roses; Belling the Cat; Best friends forever; Between Scylla and Charybdis; Bill matter; Birds of a feather flock together; Black sheep; Blessing in disguise; Blood, toil, tears and sweat; Born in the purple; The Boy Who Cried Wolf; Bread and butter (superstition) Break a leg ...
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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 (although some idioms do retain their literal meanings – see the example "kick the bucket" below).