Where does the saying "It's raining cats and dogs" come from?

Question

and what does it mean?

Answer 1

I don't know but I stepped in a Poodle!

Answer 2

Here`re some facts about life in the 1500`s in a place called Ahkamaskiy-Land across the Ocean.


Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw piled high,with no wood underneath.It was the only place for animals to get warm,so dogs,cats and other small animals(mice and bugs)lived in the roof.When it rained, it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof.Hence, the saying "It`s raining cats and dogs."There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house.This posed a real problem in the bedrooms where bugs and other droppings could really mess up your nice clean bed.Hence,a bed with four big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection.That`s how canopy beds came into existence.

Answer 3

In the 1500's houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof. Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

Answer 4

This saying appears in Jonathan Swift’s 'A Complete Collection of Polite and Ingenious Conversation' in 1738:

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

I think that's where it came from and passed into general language for describing heavy downpour.

Answer 5

In early England the roofs of houses were made of thatch and grass.The animals would go up there to get comfy etc. When the rains came they would actualy fall off the roofs,hence the saying.

Answer 6

Maybe egypt, where cats might have been holy, and the dogs where chasing them out of the skies, so it was raining cats and dogs, litterally...

who knows...

Answer 7

Was told in tornado ally, sometimes the tornados will pick up smaller animals, then drop them back to earth. Was also told that in Louisiana, whenever there was a hurricane, the wind would blow so hard that tornadoes would form, pickup the animals, again drop them back to Earth. I think the thatch roof answers are good ones. lol

Answer 8

The last thermonuclear blast at the SPCA.

Answer 9

a prison break at the local pound