Still Unsolved Still a Mystery

Raining cats and dogs

"Raining extremely heavily."

A genuine etymological mystery, and one of the most-asked-about idioms in English. You may have heard that in 17th-century towns, poor drainage meant heavy rain would wash the bodies of dead animals through the streets, making it look like it had "rained" cats and dogs. This image does appear in Jonathan Swift's satirical writing, but as a description of a flood's aftermath, not as an explanation of the phrase's origin. Other theories point to Norse mythology (cats influencing weather, dogs accompanying storm gods) or a mangled version of the obsolete Greek word "catadupe," meaning waterfall. None has ever been confirmed.

Myth vs. FactThe 'dead animals in the street' story is often told as the definitive origin. It isn't. It's a vivid image from a related but separate piece of 18th-century writing, not a documented etymology.

Sources: Jonathan Swift, 'A Description of a City Shower' (1710) and Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation (1738).

Raining cats and dogs

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