"Raining cats and dogs" refers to a very heavy rainfall, a deluge.
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This summer there has been a tremendous amount of flooding in China. Earlier, I wrote a blog about how the Three Gorges Dam was handling large amounts of flood water. To get that amount of water, it had to be “raining cats and dogs“.
When we say it is “raining cats and dogs“, it is meant that precipitation is falling in rather copious amounts. It refers to a cloudburst, a deluge, a downpour.
It is very difficult to determine the etymology of this phrase. I found about five possible explanations, but none of them really seemed plausible.
Many other European languages have equally bizarre ways to express “raining cats and dogs“. The French equivalent says “it is raining halberds“. In Greek it is “chair legs”.
Examples: “Wow! This is a real downpour. It is coming down in buckets! It’s raining cats and dogs!”
I would be interested in knowing how Chinese say “raining cats and dogs“, so please explain in the comment section. I have to wonder it will be as strange as English!
"Il pleut des hallebardes" is French for "It is raining halberds." The French equivalent of today's idiom. Would you like to be in a rainstorm with halberds falling??!!
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滂沱大雨 páng tuó dà yǔ
倾盆大雨 qīng pén dà yǔ