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Raining cats and dogs. A 19th-century cartoon by English artist George Cruikshank illustrating the phrase "raining cats and dogs" (and "pitchforks") Look up rain cats and dogs in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. The English-language idiom " raining cats and dogs " or " raining dogs and cats " is used to describe particularly heavy rain.
Another suggestion is that ‘raining cats and dogs’ comes from a version of the French word ‘catadoupe’, meaning waterfall. Again, no evidence. If the phrase were just ‘ raining cats ‘, or even if there also existed a French word ‘dogadoupe’, we might be going somewhere with this one. As there isn’t, let’s pass this by.
The term raining cats and dogs derives from Victorian times when household pets, like cats and dogs, slept during the night on the eaves of houses. When it rained heavily, the water from the roof washed them off the eaves, and they came down with the torrent of water from the roofs of houses. As it appeared as though the cats and dogs had ...
Therefore, “raining cats and dogs” may refer to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats). “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 or unbelievably hard. “Cats and dogs” may be a perversion of the ...
A few days ago, we delved into the curious origins and meaning of the phrase ‘ curiosity killed the cat ’. That got us thinking about another popular feline phrase, ‘it’s raining cats and dogs’. We all know the rough meaning of the phrase: namely, if it’s raining cats and dogs, it’s raining heavily, the heavens have opened, it’s ...
When it comes to the "raining cats and dogs" meaning, the idiom can feel a little hyperbolic. Learn about its origins and just what it's meant to say here.
It’s raining cats and dogs means heavy rain is falling with great force or in large quantities. The phrase’s origin is a bit mysterious, but it has been in use since at least the 1700s. Idioms like this one are words and phrases used figuratively to describe something—in this case, how heavy it is raining. They are important to understand ...
Long ago when most homes had thatched roofs–, cats and dogs would hide inside the thatch during storms. During heavy rain, the animals would be washed out of the thatch, and the falling could be considered “raining” as a joke that became a popular phrase. Other origins include a Greek aphorism meaning “an unlikely occurrence”, and the ...
Meaning of Raining Cats and Dogs. Swift alluded to the filthy streets of England in the early eighteenth century, when heavy rains would carry along with it debris and dead animals. Swift shows another meaning, in how people make connections in trying to avoid the storm. Nevertheless, when it is over, they return to their own individual ways.
Meaning: The phrase ‘ rain cats and dogs ‘ is a weather related idiom that means it’s raining heavily outside. Example: Elliot was supposed to play soccer with his friends at the park today. However, when he looked out the window, it was raining cats and dogs! “I won’t be able to play ball in this kind of weather,” he said while ...