Answer
We don’t know. The phrase might have its roots in Norse mythology, medieval superstitions, the obsolete word catadupe (waterfall), or dead animals in the streets of Britain being picked up by storm waters.
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The first recorded use of a phrase similar khổng lồ “raining cats and dogs” was in the 1651 collection of poems Olor Iscanus. British poet Henry Vaughan referred lớn a roof that was secure against “dogs and cats rained in shower.” One year later, Richard Brome, an English playwright, wrote in his comedy City Witt, “It shall rain dogs and polecats.” (Polecats are related to the weasel & were common in Great Britain through the over of the nineteenth century.)
In 1738, Jonathan Swift published his “Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation,” a satire on the conversations of the upper classes. One of his characters fears that it will “rain cats và dogs.” Whether Swift coined the phrase or was using a cliché, his satire was likely the beginning of the phrase’s popularity. Other British writers have employed less popular phrases, such as “it’s raining pitchforks” or “it’s raining stair-rods,” khổng lồ describe the shaft-like appearance of heavy rains. But Swift’s phrase may have been memorable enough to lớn stick in the mind of the public.
Swift also wrote a poem, “City Shower” (1710), that described floods that occurred after heavy rains. The floods left dead animals in the streets, và may have led fashionssories.comals to describe the weather as “raining cats & dogs.”
Why “cats và dogs”?
Again, we don’t know for certain. Etymologists—people who study the origins of words—have suggested a variety of mythological & literal explanations for why people say “it’s raining cats and dogs” to lớn describe a heavy downpour. Here are some of the popular theories:
Odin, the Norse god of storms, was often pictured with dogs và wolves, which were symbols of wind. Witches, who supposedly rode their brooms during storms, were often pictured with black cats, which became signs of heavy rain for sailors. Therefore, “raining cats & dogs” may refer lớn a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats). “Cats & dogs” may come from the Greek expression cata doxa, which means “contrary lớn experience or belief.” If it is raining cats và dogs, it is raining unusually or unbelievably hard. “Cats và dogs” may be a perversion of the now obsolete word catadupe. In old English, catadupe meant a cataract or waterfall. A version of catadupe existed in many old languages.In Latin, for example, catadupa was borrowed from the classical Greek κατάδουποι, which referred to lớn the cataracts of the Nile River. So, khổng lồ say it’s raining “cats và dogs” might be khổng lồ say it’s raining waterfalls. A false theory stated that cats and dogs used to cuddle into thatch roofs during storms và then be washed out during heavy rains. However, a properly maintained thatch roof is naturally water resistant & slanted to lớn allow water khổng lồ run off. In order khổng lồ slip off the roof, the animals would have to be lying on the outside—an unlikely place for an animal to seek shelter during a storm.