Why does one say " It's raining CATS and DOGS? What's its origin? And why CATS and why DOGS?

Answer 1

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You've heard of thatch roofs, well that's all they were in the past. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."

Answer 2

The phrase is supposed to have originated in England in the 17th century when city streets were filthy and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals.

The idea that seeing dead cats and dogs floating by in storms would cause people to coin this phrase is just about believable. People may not have actually thought the animals had come from the sky, but might have made up the phrase to suit the occasion.

Answer 3

Lots of theories ... one of which is:

The phrase originated in England in the 17th century, when city streets were filthy, and heavy rain would occasionally carry along dead animals ...

This may or may not be the real one

Lots of other possibilities to choose from x

Answer 4

No idea, but where I am it's raining cats and dogs and there are poodles in the street.

Answer 5

Because when Cats and Dogs fight and chase each other its a big uproar and chaotic. It's suppose to describe heavy loud rain.

Answer 6

Have no idea but will do a search and get back to you.

This link could be quite revealing;

http://www.google.com/search?q=Origins+of+phrase+-+raining+cats+and+dogs&rls=com.microsoft:en-us:IE-Address&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=ie7&rlz=1I7SKPB

A lovely sunny day is forecast for our part of the country tomorrow. Have a great weekend.

Answer 7

There are three excellent articles on this topic (from web sites always worth consulting on such things). They do a fair job of listing the main explanations offered for this expression, and esp. of suggesting why most if not all of these explanations are seriously flawed. (Some are, of course, worse than others -- like that of animals sliding from the roof!)

Check them out (I've listed the best first):

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-rai1.htm
http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/raining%20cats%20and%20dogs.html
http://www.randomhouse.com/wotd/index.pperl?date=20010830

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Here's my own summary of the major ideas these articles lay out, with some notes of my own:

First, note some strong points against ALL the main suggestions:

a) they are ALL simply speculation; we have NO written evidence for ANY of them
b) they don't fit with variations on this expression, and other similar expressions

I think the German equivalent "rain puppies ['junge Hunde'] (and kittens [und Kaetze])" or the "dogs and polecats" version raises some special problems, as I will note below.


More specifically:

1) FOREIGN WORD corrupted ?-- rare French word "catadoupe" ("waterfall") or Greek "catadox"? ("rare occurrence", but I can find NO examples of this word; might be made up just as an explanation). The Greek one is even a very abstract connection (nothing about water, much less storms); and BOTH are unable to explain the German equivalent expression" or the "dogs and polecats" version in which the order is changed (and German frequently does without the kittens).

2) NORSE MYTHOLOGY?
a) Actually Odin is associated with (two) large wolves (Geri and Freki), and his main consort Freya rides a chariot drawn by two lion-sized cats, but none of this quite connects with STORMS, nor is their any evidence offered for the supposed cats-rain, dog-wind connections.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odin
http://www.explorenorth.com/library/weekly/more/n-odin_raven.htm (picture)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freya
http://www.ealdriht.org/wod.html
http://www.open-sesame.com/Odin.html

b) the animals in this theory are characterized as extremely large. Again, that's a rather different image from the German variant "puppies (and kittens)"

c) there is a HUGE historical gap between any known uses of the expression and the ancient Norse mythology

3) "REAL LIFE"
a) Animals living in and falling out of or fleeing from thatched rooves?? Not only is there no evidence for such habits; this explanation is one of a series of bogus explanations of old expressions in a hoax email called "Life in the 1500s"
compare
http://www.snopes.com/language/phrases/1500.htm

b) Filthy city drainage systems in which a heavy storm might cause dead animals to clog it. Again, there are no accounts of such events, even if one might imagine it happening and someone loosely referring to this as 'RAINING cats and dogs' [here 'puppies and kittens' WOULD fit]. But it assumes a LARGE number of dead animals washing down the street at once. Did THIS ever happen? (Some have seen this problem and try to connect the saying directly to events during the bubonic plague. Again, there is NO record of this.)

Also note that every other expression of this sort DOES refer to the weather conditions (esp. the rain itself).

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As for dating the expression -- it must have been well-established before 1630.

Thats because the first EVIDENCE we have of its existence comes from about 1630, when Richard Brome's comic play "The City of Wit" was WRITTEN (the 1652 date often cited is the date of publication of the final version).
http://extra.shu.ac.uk/emls/iemls/renplays/citywit.htm

The FORM Brome uses shows that this must already have been a well-known expression, enough so that he can play with it and vary it.

Oddly, even the fine articles above totally miss the OBVIOUS explanation for Brom's change in order and wording to "dogs and polecats". This is shaped by the Greek and Latin phrases the 'scholar' is (comically) MIS-translating, esp. by "DOGmata POLLA sophon" [='many are the thoughts of the wise']

There is NO reason to think "dogs and polecats" was the original expression!

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Finally, there is no real need for the colorful speculations.

The PAIRING of 'cats and dogs' is natural and common enough. It also follows the pattern of some other expressions for heavy rain, like "raining pitchforks and plow handles" or 'pitchforks and hammer handles' (note the role of alliteration in these expressions --P- & P- or Hammer Handles).

And the odd picture it calls up is hardly so different from other expressions for heavy rain.

Good conclusion in the first article listed above:
"There are other similes which employ falls of improbable objects as figurative ways of expressing the sensory overload of noise and confusion that can occur during a violent rainstorm; people have said that it’s raining like pitchforks (first recorded in 1815), hammer handles, and even chicken coops. It’s probable that the version with cats and dogs fits into this model, without needing to invoke supernatural beliefs or inadequate drainage "

(Compare other such expressions in other languages:
http://www.omniglot.com/language/phrases/rain.htm )

Answer 8

Be thankful .in Welsh it's "Bwrw hen wragedd a ffyn"..
"Raining old ladies and sticks."
I have no idea why though.

Answer 9

because rhino,s and elephants didn,t sound right.