Welcome to Gaia! ::

Topic: Raining cats and dogs

When we hear it's raining cats and dogs, we don't look to the skies expecting some wonder of weather; we trust the phrase is being used metaphorically, to mean heavy rain. Why cats and dogs? We have three theories, but not a paw print's worth of proof for any of them.

Our first theory is the simplest: a violent rainstorm, with its concomitant thunder and lightning, is reminiscent of a cat and dog fight.

But if raining cats and dogs puts you in mind of pets without enough sense to come in out of the rain, you might appreciate the theory inspired by the meteorological phenomenon called a waterspout. That's basically a tornado that occurs over a body of water, such as an ocean or lake, and these intense wind storms occasionally sweep up birds and small animals and shoot them into the air. Of course, animals swept up eventually come down; this theory suggests raining cats and dogs derives from the sight of the hapless critters being deposited on the down side of a waterspout.

Finally we turn to myth and superstition. Centuries ago, witches were believed to ride in storms. Since witches often were represented as cats, cats became associated with rain and were thought to influence the weather. In Norse mythology, the storm god Odin was attended by dogs, and they became associated with strong winds. So raining cats and dogs would mean that there was plenty of rain and wind.

Questions or comments? Write us at wftw@aol.com Production and research support for Word for the Wise comes from Merriam-Webster, publisher of language reference books and Web sites including Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Eleventh Edition.

cool

mrgreen