{"id":1305,"date":"2013-09-18T10:00:25","date_gmt":"2013-09-18T09:00:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/eurotalk.com\/blog\/?p=1305"},"modified":"2026-08-25T13:18:35","modified_gmt":"2026-08-25T12:18:35","slug":"its-raining-cats-and-dogs-and-wheelbarrows-and-old-ladies","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/utalk.com\/en\/news\/its-raining-cats-and-dogs-and-wheelbarrows-and-old-ladies","title":{"rendered":"It’s Raining Cats and Dogs (and Wheelbarrows and Old Ladies)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

‘It\u2019s raining cats and dogs!’ is a common British phrase meaning that it\u2019s raining particularly hard. There are various theories as to where the expression came from – although there’s no evidence that it’s ever actually happened!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It may come from the Greek expression cata doxa<\/em>. This means ‘contrary to experience or belief’ and might explain why the expression is used when it’s raining unusually hard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Equally, it could be derived from the old French word catadupe<\/em>, which meant waterfall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

An old theory was that in heavy rain, dead animals would often be washed out of drainage systems on 17th century buildings in Europe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s no conclusive answer. It may just be that it was a funny expression that caught on and became popular. We’ll probably never know…<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Britain it also rains buckets, stair rods, tacks and pitchforks… But did you know that in other areas of the world, it rains other things?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our favourites are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining wheelbarrows’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Czech:<\/strong><\/a> Padaj\u00ed traka\u0159e<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It\u2019s raining knives and forks’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Welsh:<\/strong><\/a> Mae hi’n bwrw cyllyll a ffyrc<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining shoemakers\u2019 apprentices’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Danish:<\/strong><\/a> Det regner skomagerdrenge<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining fire and brimstone’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Icelandic:<\/strong><\/a> \u00dea\u00f0 rignir eld og brennustein<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Fire<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining lady trolls’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Norwegian:<\/strong><\/a> Det regner trollkjerringer<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining husbands’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Spanish:<\/strong><\/a> Est\u00e1n lloviendo maridos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It\u2019s raining old women with knobkerries’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Afrikaans:<\/strong><\/a> Ou vrouens met knopkieries reen (by the way, a knobkierrie is a kind of African club!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining snakes and lizards’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Brazilian Portuguese<\/a><\/strong>: Chovem cobras e lagartos<\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘It’s raining frogs’<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Polish<\/a><\/strong>: Leje zabami<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’d love to know where some of these expressions came from, so if anyone has any information, please share it in the comments!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘It\u2019s raining cats and dogs!’ is a common British phrase meaning that it\u2019s raining particularly hard. There are various theories…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[300,273,201,248,249,32,301,302,53,251,303,8,172,266],"class_list":["post-1305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-languagelearning","tag-afrikaans","tag-brazilian-portuguese","tag-britain","tag-czech","tag-danish","tag-english","tag-expression","tag-icelandic","tag-norwegian","tag-polish","tag-rain","tag-spanish","tag-tradition","tag-welsh"],"acf":[],"lang":"en","translations":{"en":1305},"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":3,"label":"Language 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