It's raining cats and dogs

[Naufragis]

hello everybody!

I need some advice in using weather idioms.

from my point of view, from my location I'm actually looking outside the window, I couldn't believe it's summer.
the middle of germany is appearing quite London-like:
"It's raining cats and dogs.", date is july 12, though ... .

would you please put some enlightenment on this saying?
where it comes from?

many thanks in advance

[Torsten]

Hi Naufragis,

You've asked a good question. I think there are various explanations and maybe Alan or Bruce will relate theirs too. As far as I know your weather idiom refers to the time when sailors would believe that cats and dogs had influence over storms and would bring in rain. There is probably more to that...
_________________
Test Of English for International Communication
TOEIC Preparation & TOEIC Vocabulary

[Naufragis]

hi torsten,

I'm curious about to know ...
I long for better times.

[Gkukreti]

It hadn't rained cats and dogs here. Alas!

[Erik]

When someone says that old saying here, its common that the other person will say back as a joke "I know, I just stepped in a poodle!"

[Erik]

A pun, poodle/puddle.

[Jim Jim]

I don't know the derivation of the saying that it's raining cats and dogs, but the current usage/meaning is that it's raining or storming VERY hard.

[Mister Micawber]

HERE'S one supposition:

'...as to cats and dogs, we're going to rely a little on another writer, Christine Ammer, who has produced a marvelous book called, fortuitously, "It's Raining Cats and Dogs and Other Beastly Expressions" (Paragon, 1988). The first verified use of "raining cats and dogs" was in 1738 by Jonathan Swift (of "Gulliver's Travels" fame), though there were earlier versions of the phrase.

Why would cats and dogs be a metaphor for a heavy downpour? According to Ms. Ammer, it may have been because in Northern European myths the cat stood for rain and the dog for wind. Or perhaps the clamor of a full-tilt thunderstorm reminded someone of the sound of cats and dogs fighting.

It's also possible that the phrase is a grisly reference to the fact that, as Ms. Ammer puts it, "In 17th century Britain, after a cloudburst the gutters would overflow with a filthy torrent that included dead animals...." That's a bit too grim for my taste, so I'm going to stick with the bit about cats and dogs symbolizing wind and rain.'
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Take_It_Easy]

This idiom is used by cockney accent. This accent can be found in east of London. I had spent a few months in the area of cockney, I had gained much experiences there. BTW.. there are a bunch of other idioms what cockney accent commonly use such as apples & pears which means stairs. Well I consider this accent to be extremely difficult to understand. as it's typical of the whole british area especially north UK.

[Erik]

Its even more difficult when, typically, the word that actually rhymes with the definition is removed. For example "Loaf of Bread" = "Head", but this is shortened to "Loaf" = "Head" .

Signed, a "Septic"

[Bupbems]

I heard about''belong with'' from my favorite song''YOU BELONG WITH ME'' OF TAYLOR SWIFT but I wonder if there was a difference between it and ''belong to''