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#Ill rain on your parade and storm all over you free

#Ill rain on your parade and storm all over you free

A free online dictionary of word origins. Author: Science Reference Section, Library of Congress Related Websites Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress.

Goat: Why so? Dog: Why, the summer showers don’t take the curl out of your horns. In order to slip off the roof, the animals would have to be lying on the outside-an unlikely place for an animal to seek shelter during a storm.ĭog: You certainly have an advantage.

However, a properly maintained thatch roof is naturally water resistant and slanted to allow water to run off.

A false theory stated that cats and dogs used to cuddle into thatch roofs during storms and then be washed out during heavy rains.

So, to say it’s raining “cats and dogs” might be to say it’s raining waterfalls. A version of catadupe existed in many old languages.In Latin, for example, catadupa was borrowed from the classical Greek κατάδουποι, which referred to the cataracts of the Nile River. In old English, catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall.

“Cats and dogs” may be a perversion of the now obsolete word catadupe.

“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.

Therefore, “raining cats and dogs” may refer to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats). Witches, who supposedly rode their brooms during storms, were often pictured with black cats, which became signs of heavy rain for sailors.

Odin, the Norse god of storms, was often pictured with dogs and wolves, which were symbols of wind.

Etymologists-people who study the origins of words-have suggested a variety of mythological and literal explanations for why people say “it’s raining cats and dogs” to describe a heavy downpour. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress Why “cats and dogs”?Īgain, we don’t know for certain. The floods left dead animals in the streets, and may have led locals to describe the weather as “raining cats and dogs.” Honorable Mr. Swift also wrote a poem, “City Shower” (1710), that described floods that occurred after heavy rains. Prints & Photographs Division, Library of Congress But Swift’s phrase may have been memorable enough to stick in the mind of the public. Other British writers have employed less popular phrases, such as “it’s raining pitchforks” or “it’s raining stair-rods,” to describe the shaft-like appearance of heavy rains. One of his characters fears that it will “rain cats and dogs.” Whether Swift coined the phrase or was using a cliché, his satire was likely the beginning of the phrase’s popularity. In 1738, Jonathan Swift published his “Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation,” a satire on the conversations of the upper classes. British poet Henry Vaughan referred to a roof that was secure against “dogs and cats rained in shower.” One year later, Richard Brome, an English playwright, wrote in his comedy City Witt, “It shall rain dogs and polecats.” (Polecats are related to the weasel and were common in Great Britain through the end of the nineteenth century.) Portrait of Jonathan Swift. The first recorded use of a phrase similar to “raining cats and dogs” was in the 1651 collection of poems Olor Iscanus. Ailsa Mellon Bruce Fund, National Gallery of Art The phrase might have its roots in Norse mythology, medieval superstitions, the obsolete word catadupe (waterfall), or dead animals in the streets of Britain being picked up by storm waters.