Great Mysteries of Life - Why do people say "It's raining cats and dogs"?

In my previous post, I went down a deep rabbit hole by exploring reports of raining fish and frogs. That really does happen (though always with a plausible scientific explanation).

But what about when people say it’s raining cats and dogs? Where did that come from? Has it ever actually rained cats and dogs? Almost certainly not, but I still find the saying to be interesting.

The first recorded use of the phrase was in 1651, in a poetry collection by British poet Henry Vaughan. A year after that, the British playwright Richard Brome included this line in one of his comic plays: “It shall rain dogs and polecats.”

The phrase didn’t become popular, though, until 1738, when Jonathan Swift wrote a satire in which one of his characters feared it would “rain cats and dogs.”

But this doesn’t really explain why this particular phrase became popular. Why specifically cats and dogs? One hypothesis comes from etymologists—people who study the origins of words. The Norse god of storms, Odin, was often depicted alongside dogs and wolves, which at that time were symbols for wind. Also, witches were thought to ride their broomsticks during storms, and they were often depicted with black cats. The black cats therefore became signs of approaching rain for sailors. So, “raining cats and dogs” may have been a way to refer to a storm with wind (dogs) and heavy rain (cats).

In my opinion, though, a more likely origin of the phrase might be indicated by something else that Jonathan Swift wrote. In 1710, he wrote a poem called “City Shower.” Many cities had poor drainage in those days, and the poem describes the flooding that would occur after heavy rains, and how the flooding left dead animals in the streets. So, I’m going with the explanation that these dead animals led people to describe the storm as “raining cats and dogs.”

Okay, I'm now satisfied I have fully explored the weird notion of animals raining from the heavens. I shall pontificate on this matter no further.

Image credit: Midjourney 6.1