Can anyone tell me what's the origin of the phrase "raining cats and dogs"? A Google search didn't provide any satisfactory answers, only unlikely speculations.
Well, you see my friend, in the past it quite literally used to rain cats and dogs. In the 18th or 19th century, people actually used to use steel umbrellas (A long forgotten technology due to its weight, but the frames of modern umbrellas originated from them). They used the steel umbrellas when it rained to protect themselves from blunt force trauma, until there was a drought, and never again did it rain cats or dogs.
https://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/rainingcats.html Tl:dr nobody knows for sure, oldest written mention is 1600's but its was already a common idiom at the time
Maybe it’s because it’s raining so hard that no cat wants to go out and even the dog is not happy about going for a walk either?
Maybe they were being literal? There have been cases where animals (who don't have wings) falling from the sky, including cats and dogs. They think it is because storms picked them up at a location and threw them into the sky, they then ended up thousands of miles away. There is also this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_of_animals#"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.[48] The phrase (with "polecats" instead of "cats") has been used at least since the 17th century.[49][50] A number of possible etymologies have been put forward to explain the phrase; for example:[51] 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."[52] "Cats and dogs" may be a corruption of the Greek word Katadoupoi, referring to the waterfalls on the Nile,[48] 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.[48] In addition to at least one folk etymology: An "explanation" widely circulated by email claimed that in 16th-century Europe, when peasant homes were commonly thatched, animals could crawl into the thatch to find shelter from the elements and would fall out during heavy rain. However, there seems to be no evidence in support of either assertion.[53]"
Whaa...? But very entertaining, I'll give u that. Poetic, too. Yeah, nobody seems to know 4 sure. Still, thanks. That Norse mythology and witch thingy??? That's a new one! Animals/corpses getting washed away by the rain seems somewhat plausible. Thank u.
I think yes i Forgot *takes out a dusty thick book flips through it* should be here *half an hour later* Should be here *another half an hour later* I am not searching don’t know man
Spoiler: Dusty Book Spoiler: Table of Contents Spoiler: Idioms Section Spoiler: Starting with the letter "R" Run a Google search
*starry eyes* *clicks on dusty book* *hmm he forgot to add thick* *excitedly clicks on table of contents* *curiously clicks on idom section* * feeling ominous clicks on R thing * *sees use google* KILL!! KILL!! KILL!!