It's Raining Cats and Dogs

When someone says “it’s raining cats and dogs” what they’re really saying is “gee, isn’t it raining heavily outside”.

It’s a phrase you might mutter to yourself or hear someone else say without giving too much thought: understandable given the expression has existed since at least the 17th century.

It has all sorts of possible explanations attached: ranging from etymology and bogus historical claims, all the way to simple poetic imagery and ancient mythology.

But what the hell does it mean?

Short answer: who the hell knows

Okay, cards on the table here — there is no definitive answer to where this expression comes from, although some of those “explanations” deserve a look.

One of the most commonly told theories is that, in 1500s England, back when houses had thatched roofs, various animals including pet dogs and cats would live in the roof and when it rained, they would slip off and fall to the ground. This comes from a widely debunked email from the early days of the internet (1999), has no evidence attached to it, and actually makes no sense when you stop to think about it.

Another theory claims that the dog element comes from Norse mythology, as Odin (God of storms) was often depicted with dogs and wolves by his side. The cats, this theory continues, comes from the general mythology of witches, who were said to often be seen flying on their broomsticks during heavy rain, and are often associated with cats. Smash both these together, and a heavy storm (consisting of Odin’s wind and the witches’ rain) results in dogs and cats.

Reeeeeeeally stretching for that one.

If we look at the etymology there are two possible explanations. Firstly, given English’s tendency to borrow and corrupt words, some have said it could come from the old French word catadupe, meaning waterfall. Second, it could be a corruption of the Greek expression cata doxa which means “contrary to experience or belief.”

But there is no etymological evidence of either being borrowed and used by English speakers, let alone being corrupted in to the modern expression of “raining cats and dogs.”

All origins point to poet and writer Jonathan Swift in two sources. Firstly, in his poem from 1710, Description of a City Shower:

“Sweeping from Butchers Stalls, Dung, Guts, and Blood,

Drown’d Puppies, stinking Sprats, all drench’d in Mud,

Dead Cats and Turnip-Tops come tumbling down the Flood.”

It’s important to keep in mind that this was a satirical poem intended to criticise the cleanliness of London during a time when the city’s rivers were essentially open sewers. He isn’t describing a literal event where these things came tumbling down from the sky, but likely an instance where the sewers overflow in heavy rain and everything from the sewers (including dead animals that would have been tossed in) would wash up in to the streets.

Swift himself then used this same imagery in 1738, in A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation, in what is the first use of the modern expression:

“I know Sir John will go, though he was sure it would rain cats and dogs”.

So did Swift invent this phrase? No, he did not. A slightly altered “dogs and polecats” was used to describe stormy weather before he first used it, with the first record coming from way back in 1653. He didn’t invent it, but at the very least, he seemed to like this imagery, and may have played a big part in popularising and altering it to the modern version he used in 1738.

For a time, the common expression included the addition of “pitchforks” raining down along with the pets (as seen in the title image of this article), but for whatever reason this element died out.

So the answer to the etymology of this expression, as unsatisfying as it may be, is that it was likely just a nonsensical statement coined for a laugh that has stuck around for no discernible reason. Language has the power to do that. It doesn’t care if something makes sense or not.

Take these other language equivalents of English’s “raining cats and dogs” as proof of that:

• Afrikaans — “it’s raining old women with clubs”
• Cantonese — “it’s raining dog’s poo”
• French — “it’s raining like a peeing cow”
• Spanish — “it’s raining toads and snakes”

But actually, it turns out the Spanish are the closest to some actual truth out of the lot of them…

It’s raining… all sorts of things

So let’s forget specifically about cats and dogs for a minute. There is a meteorological phenomena known as a “rain of animals” in which, ominously, various animals are perceived to fall from the sky. It’s a phenomena that is not fully understood, nor has it been scientifically observed just yet, but essentially it’s believed to be due to powerful tornado waterspouts forming over water, sucking things up, moving over land like tornados do, and dropping everything, much to the horror of anyone stepping outside once it clears up.

This theory certainly holds water because most reported cases of raining animals are tiny aquatic creatures, and these sorts of tornados tend to form over water.

Outside of the Plagues of Egypt in the Book of Exodus, there are nightmarish modern day examples (all within the last 10–15 years) of frogs and toads falling in Japan, Hungary and Uruguay, as well as worms falling in Louisiana USA, and spider rain in Australia and Brazil.

But the most commonly reported animal to fall from the sky is fish, with examples all over the world. It is so common and accepted in Yoro, Honduras, that it has spawned a yearly celebration: Festival de Lluvia de Peces (translation — festival of the fish rain), a time when God is perceived to favour the people and bring them food from the sky.

Meanwhile, the closest thing we’ve ever had to a real life sharknado was in Qingdao, China, when in 2018 the city was reportedly pelted with prawns, starfish and other shellfish during a particularly hellacious storm.

So, given how these tornado waterspouts are formed (and where), and the fact that nothing other than relatively tiny creatures are sucked up, it seems incredibly unlikely we will ever see a real life case of cats and dogs literally raining from the skies.

But that doesn’t mean something else won’t drop on your head some day…

* * *

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lluvia_de_Peces
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rain_of_animals
• https://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining-cats-and-dogs.html
• https://www.loc.gov/everyday-mysteries/meteorology-climatology/item/what-is-the-origin-of-the-phrase-its-raining-cats-and-dogs/